Western Fictioneers

Western Fictioneers New Vice-President

2012-01-02T06:00:00.005-06:00

Western Fictioneers is composed of writers who love what they’re doing and who believe in the literature of the old west. It’s an honor for me to serve as vice-president of a professional organization that’s devoted to keeping the traditional western alive.

Stories of the west have been entertaining readers since the days of James Fenimore Cooper, and all of us here believe that western fiction is just as compelling ever. We have already produced a fine anthology of western tales. There’s a lot more to come in 2012, so look for some exciting announcements in the months ahead.

Membership in Western Fictioneers is open to professional authors who have written Westerns, as well as fans of the genre who can join as patron members. If you’d like to join our group and be a part of the fun, you can find the requirements at www.westernfictioneers.com. We welcome everyone who shares our interests and our love of traditional western fiction.

Bill Crider

Western Fictioneers Vice-President 2012

Western Fictioneers New President

2012-01-01T07:33:00.000-06:00

Western Fictioneers is a professional organization for authors who work in the genre of the traditional western. Our goal is to promote the kinds of stories we love to write (and read); the western is the Great American Story, our unique history and mythology, and it remains as relevant as it ever was.

Western Fictioneers has a lot of exciting, even daring, projects in the works for the coming year. If you love westerns like I do, I guarantee you're going to love what we have in store for you, both individually and collectively.

I was honored to be in on the ground floor when this great organization was formed in 2010. I am even more honored to have been elected its second president, for 2012, succeeding the award-winning author Frank Roderus.

You will find in our ranks some very familiar names- some of the best in the business, past or present. You will also find some bright new stars in the western firmament, who may well join your list of personal favorites. So mount up and ride along with us, partners- you'll be glad you did.

Troy D. Smith

Western Fictioneers President 2012

www.westernfictioneers.com

Newly Reissued by Robert J. Randisi

2011-12-16T20:32:00.000-06:00

Hard on the heels of the newly reissued Gunsmith #'s 1 & 2 comes TRACKER #1: THE WINNING HAND and ANGEL EYES #1: THE MIRACLE OF REVENGE. These series appeared in the 80's under the pseudonyms "Tom Cutter" and "W.B. Longely" but are now being published by Speaking Volumes LLC under the Randisi name, with kick-ass covers! Available in POD paper and Ebook, and soon to be on Audio. Order from the Speaking Volumes LLC website, or Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

Anthology Review

2011-12-07T15:52:00.001-06:00

Favorable review of The Traditional West can be seen in the online magazine, At Home in the Costa. December edition.

http://www.ahomeinthecostas.com/online-magazine/book/15-december-2011/1-at-home-in-the-costa-blanca-free-magazine-for-property-a-lifestyle-in-the-spanish-costas.html

Award Winning Author: Larry Sweazy

2011-12-05T11:41:00.001-06:00

Larry Sweazy just won best fiction in the Best Books of Indiana awards! Congratulations!

http://www.larrydsweazy.com/

Author of the Week

2011-11-29T07:12:00.001-06:00

Check out here how writing saved Western Fictioneer member, Jory Sherman's, life.

The Traditional West Now on Sale

2011-11-27T10:56:00.000-06:00

The Kindle edition of THE TRADITIONAL WEST, the first anthology from the Western Fictioneers, is on sale for a limited time for $3.99. This is a great price for a huge collection of stories by the best Western writers in the business. It's also available at the same price for the Nook.

Christmas Campfire Collection: A New Western Anthology

2011-11-25T11:33:00.000-06:00

While this isn't a Western Fictioneers project, many of the contributors to this beautiful new anthology are WF members. The line-up of top-notch Western authors includes L.J. Washburn, Troy D. Smith, Frank Roderus, Tim Champlin, Larry D. Sweazy, Robert Vaughan, Douglas Hirt, Dusty Richards, Kerry Newcomb, Matthew P. Mayo, Robert J. Randisi, Rod Miller, James Reasoner, and Terry Burns. This would make a great Christmas gift for anyone who enjoys Western fiction.

Peacemaker Award Submissions

2011-11-06T06:01:00.001-06:00

WF (Western Fictioneers) Peacemaker 2011 Award submissions

Submissions for the WF Peacemaker Awards are being accepted for works published in the year 2011.

Qualifications: Copyright dates must be between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. Works must have been published by a reputable publisher that pays advances and/or royalties. No self-published works will be considered for a WF Peacemaker Award. This includes works published directly by the author on web sites and programs such as iUniverse, Kindle, or Lulu. Proof of the viability of the publisher is the submitter’s responsibility; author, agent, or publisher. Publishers that cannot be verified to meet the above standards will not be considered for a WF Peacemaker Award. Books and short stories may be published in any country in the world (submissions must be in English). WF reserves the right to decline any submission for consideration of an Award.

Authors, agents, or publishers may submit a work for consideration of an Award.

At least three entrants in the Best Western First Novel must be received for an Award to be presented.

Novels and short stories must be set in the time period between 1830-1920 to be considered Westerns under WF guidelines.

Nominees for the WF Peacemaker will be announced on 04/15/2012 and the winners will be announced on 06/01/2012.

The WF Peacemaker will awarded in three categories:

Best Western Novel – Any novel published during the award year set in the appropriate time period (1830-1920), 45,000 words and higher. There are no format requirements. The novel may be a hardcover, trade paperback, mass market paperback, or eBook, as long it has been published by an appropriate publisher.

Best Western Short Story – Any short story published during the award year set in the appropriate time period (1830-1920), 500 words to 10,000 words. There are no format requirements. The short story may be published in any publication, print or electronic, as long as it has been published by an appropriate publisher.

Best Western First Novel – Must meet the same requirements as Best Novel, and must be the author’s first published Western novel. If the author has published novels in any other genre they will notdisqualify the author from the Best Western First Novel Award competition. Submissions may be made in both novel categories in the same year.

Procedures:

One copy of the work must be sent to each judge (3 per category), and the awards chair, accompanied with the appropriate form. Links for the forms can be found at the bottom of this Western Fictioneers Website. All entries must be postmarked by January 31, 2012. Judges should not be contacted by any entrant concerning their entry during the consideration period. Doing so may result in disqualification of eligibility for the WF Peacemaker Award. Works submitted will not be returned after the awards have been announced.

**FOR SHORT STORIES ONLY: If you choose not to mail entries to the overseas judges, you can send the story as a Word file or .rtf file to the Award Chair (larrysweazy@prodigy.net). The chair will still need to be mailed hard-copy (in the case that the short story is not an electronic publication) so the copyright date can be validated.

Awards Chair:

Larry D. Sweazy, 18078 Benton Oak Dr., Noblesville, IN 46062

Email: larrysweazy@prodigy.net

Best Novel Judges:

Terry Burns, 1414 Sunrise Dr. #51, Amarillo, TX 79104

Anthony Clark, 1884 Willow Oak Dr., St. Charles, Mo 61303

Robert J. Randisi, 106 S. Alley Street, Clarksville, Mo 63336

Best Short Story Judges:

Frank Roderus, 3241 Montano Ave, Spring Hill FL 34609

Charlie Whipple, 1-10-11 Miyanogidai Hanamigawa-Ku, Chiba 262, Japan

Dr. Keith Souter, 106 Manygates Lane, Sandal, Wakefield, West Yorkshire,

WF2 7DP, UK

Best First Novel Judges:

Phil Dunlap, 410 North Rangeline Road, Carmel, IN 46032

Larry J. Martin, 48 Rock Creek Road, Clinton, MT. 59825

Matthew Mayo, 591 Shore Rd., Northport, ME 04849-4216

Review -- THE COUGAR'S PREY

2011-10-03T15:23:00.001-05:00

Larry D. Sweazy's fourth book (Berkley Western Novel, $6.99) in his award winning Western series thrusts Josiah Wolfe into yet another cauldron of intrigues where friends and foes are interchangeable and the fate of the Texas Rangers seems to hang on the threads of his personal actions. In his third year of service, Ranger Wolfe is caught in events swirling around the financial crisis of 1873 and the lingering aftermath of the War Between the States [Civil War to northerners]. He's also at the cusp of facing up to his own need to provide a stable home for his young son and balancing new love against haunting memories of his deceased wife and daughters. Josiah Wolfe is a flawed hero, which is what makes us embrace him all the more fiercely. He's anyone of us across time and place trying to do the right thing against odds. And that's Sweazy's gift as a storyteller - Texas circa 1870s is immediate, with officials entrusted to serve the greater good actually acting in their self-interest and motivated by personal greed. Josiah is basically a simple, decent person most often out of his element in a world of intrigue. How he balances his integrity against political machinations set to destroy the fabric of a good life for the "little people" is the stuff of Sweazy's page turner series. The Cougar's Prey is a worthy companion to The Rattlesnake Season, The Scorpion Trail and The Badger's Revenge. - RITA KOHN.

Gunsmith #1

2011-09-22T18:28:00.000-05:00

Little did I suspect, 30 years ago, when THE GUNSMITH #1: MACKLIN'S WOMEN came out, that it would be reprinted 30 years later--both as print and as an e-book. But here it is, appearing as of Oct. 2011. From that point on Gunsmiths will continue to appear until the first 200 are available as ebooks. #2 THE CHINESE GUNMAN will appear in Nov. In Dec. the first books in the ANGEL EYES and TRACKER series will appear, and then GUNSMITH #3: THE WOMAN HUNT in January. The Gunsmith books will continue to appear as by J.R. Roberts, but Angels Eyes, Tracker and Mountain Jack Pike series will appear as by Robert J. Randisi writing as . . .

In any case, shared here for the first time, the cover of Gunsmith #1--which will also be the cover of the POD trade paperback, and the Audios which will appear in January and February.

RJR

Western Writer Troy D. Smith

2011-09-10T07:14:00.000-05:00

1. What was your first Western novel or story and was it published?

My firsttwo Western novels, Riding to Sundown andBrothers in Arms, were written in1990... purely for my own entertainment. In those days I buffed and waxedfloors for a living, and would be locked in Wal-marts and K-marts alone for upto twelve hours a night. I wasn’t paid by the hour, and it only took about halfthe time to do the work, so I wound up writing to occupy myself. It never evenoccurred to me at the time I could be published. A few years later I gotserious about writing, and decided to do a few short stories to see if I couldget them published and at least have something on my query letter when I triedto sell my novels. My first short story was accepted at Louis L’Amour Magazine; they took several others too, and I thoughtI’d found my gravy train, but then the magazine folded right after my firststory appeared. I kept selling stories, though. In the past year a lot of myolder stuff has been reprinted by Western Trail Blazer, and those first twoshort novels I wrote while my wax was drying twenty years ago finally got intoprint for the first time.

2. What Western writer or writers of thepast were the biggest influence on your work?

Louis L’Amour was a big influence; I’d been readinghis novels while locked up in those stores before I ran out of books andstarted writing my own. I also loved Elmer Kelton, and often paraphrase hisgreat quote: he didn’t write about a bad guy in a black hat versus a good guyin a white hat, he wrote about two guys in gray hats, one trying to institutechange and one resisting it. I like that. I was also influenced by LarryMcMurtry; I like the way he plays with history, and how he uses humor to endearcharacters to you before he suddenly visits horrific death and destruction onthem, making you care deeply about their fates. Beyond that, I could name awhole slew of writers active in WF right now as big influences, and dozens ofclassic writers –from Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, and Steinbeck to Stephen King,Robert E. Howard and Stan Lee.

3. What's the first Western you remember reading from cover tocover?

Bowie’s Mine,by Elmer Kelton. I read it in 1976, when I was eight… it was the first“grown-up book” I ever read. I read it over and over, in fact, and can stillremember the opening scene in great detail.

4. Who is your favorite historical Western figure, and why?

This one is a tie. Crazy Horse isinspirational; he fought for his people and culture, and in innovative ways,even when many of them abandoned him. I am also quite fond of Bill Tilghman; hesaw it all. Serving as a lawman in Dodge City with Earp and Masterson, federaldeputy marshal in Oklahoma Territory, and still taming oil boomtowns when hewas an old man in the 1920s. He had a sort of quiet efficiency that got the jobdone while more boisterous attention-seekers got all the fame and glory.

5. How much historical research do you do, and how do you go aboutit?

Ithelps that historical research is my day job. I spent several yearsfamiliarizing myself with 19^th century Indian Territory / Oklahomafor my dissertation, and I plan to use that in future fiction works. Generallyspeaking, though, it depends on the project. If I am writing about a historicalfigure like Champ Ferguson, I want to get all the details down right. For Bound for the Promise-Land I spent sixmonths doing nothing but research, filling up several notebooks and poringthrough slave narratives before I wrote my first sentence of narrative. I spenda lot less time on a typical adventure story, but I still read a lot to makesure I know the difference between point and drag, gee and haw.

6. Who is your favorite fictional character that you have created?

Thisone is a tie, too. Both my favorite creations were supporting characters inCivil War epics, and each served as a conscience for the hero. As such, theywere intrinsically good people, and therefore (to me, at least) very lovable.The first is Lonnie Blake, ex-slave-turned-soldier-turned-preacher in Bound for the Promise-Land. I wanted myhero, Alfred, to be a sort of everyman, and torn by conflicting emotions aboutlife and about racial issues. His two best friends, Lonnie and Chamas, playedthe roles of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, each trying to sway him to theirperspective. Lonnie was the MLK figure, and –while a flawed human being–approached life with love, compassion, and faith. My other favorite was notquite so saintly –Rains Philpot was the sidekick of Champ Ferguson, thenotorious Confederate guerrilla that I wrote about in Good Rebel Soil. I wanted to structure Champ’s story like a Greektragedy: a brave, and likable, hero who has a fatal flaw (in Champ’s case, hisangry passions) which draws him inexorably to a doom that he knows he can’tescape no matter how hard he tries. Rains is kind of simple-minded, intenselyloyal to his friend, and –despite the band’s violent activities –kind of aninnocent. It’s his voice that tries to pull Champ back from the abyss when hegoes too far. I had a soft spot for him –although his positive qualities wereentirely of my own invention, for the sake of a good story. I’m pretty sure thereal Rains Philpot was just as ruthless as Champ.

7. Who is your favorite fictional character that someone elsecreated?

Oh,hands down, Augustus McRae from LonesomeDove. They just don’t come any better than Gus. Although I also have a softspot for Hewey Calloway, Elmer Kelton’s great cowboy character.

8. Do you make a living writing? If not, what is your day job?

I am ahistory professor, currently teaching at Tennessee Tech. My dissertation, whichI hope to publish soon in book form, is about the Five Tribes of the Southeast(and later Oklahoma –Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles) andthe process by which, in the first half of the 19^th century, theyadopted plantation slavery and developed racial concepts unknown to previousgenerations in their leaders’ quest to become “modern,” eventually allying (forcomplicated reasons) with the Confederacy during the Civil War. I explore whatthat whole process says about the connections between racial identity andnational identity, and how each is formed. This pulls together my three fieldsof research: American Indians, slavery, and Southern history (Western history,too.)

9. What do you plan to write in the future?

My nextbig fiction project will be a crime novel. I plan to write several shortstories before that, though, to be included in various series of ebook shorts.I’ll do a couple more tales for the Blackwell Western series being published byWTB, as well as a couple of mystery series which should be available in thenext few months. One stars a 5^th century Irish chieftain, Conor MacCormac, who has a tendency to get involved in political intrigues in the daysof the late Roman Empire –where the murders are never as simple as they seem.The other series will be called “Dead Rednecks!” and centers on an ex-con inKnoxville, Hoss Qualls, whose efforts tokeep his nose clean are complicated by his many crazy relatives, especially hissemi-delusional brother who has opened a detective agency and constantly needsHoss’s help. Right now I am working on a story for an upcoming Lone Rangeranthology.

10. What made you decide to write Western fiction?

Iactually write in various genres: Western, mystery, sci-fi/fantasy, and horror.What success I have had, though, has mostly come from Westerns, and I don’tthink that is an accident. I like to write about characters who face their mostprimal emotions. A story set on the frontier is very conducive to that; theveneer is stripped away, and the primordial comes to the surface. You can cutthrough the crap, in other words, and pretty darn quick.

Western Writer Robert J. Randisi

2011-08-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

What was your first Western novel or story and was it published? The first Western I had published—book or story—was The Gunsmith #1: Macklin’s Women.

What Western writer or writers of the past were the biggest influence on your work? Louis L’Amour, naturally, since he was pretty much the first one I read, but a larger influence on my work was actually Jory Sherman. Reading his GUNN series helped me learn to write westerns. Meeting him and becoming his friend was also important to me.

What's the first Western you remember reading from cover to cover? You know, I’m not sure about this, but it was either SACKETT or THE SACKETT BRAND.

Who is your favorite historical Western figure, and why? BAT MASTERSON. I feel a connection with him, might even be a reincarnation of him. He and I had a lot of the same interests—Boxing, Horse Racing, Poker, Writing. I enjoy writing about him.

How much historical research do you do, and how do you go about it? I do quite a but, depending on the story I want to tell. I have a research library of my own, which I’ve built up over the years, but—and I hate to admit this--Google might be making it obsolete.

How do you choose where to begin your story? Do you use prologues?

The stories usually choose their own starting places. I just go with it. I have used prologues, when I feel they’re necessary. Obviously, I don’t agree with Dutch Leonard, who says they are NEVER necessary.

Do you do all your research ahead of time, or as you go along? Some ahead of time, a lot as I go along. My desk is usually covered with open books, or print outs from Google.

Which of your characters do you identify with the most, and why? Was there a role model for this particular character? I identify with Bat Masterson from my book THE HAM REPORTER, for reasons I covered in question #5.

Do you outline and plot your story or do you write as the inspiration or MUSE leads? I start with the character and then go where he goes. I have only ever outlined in order to show it to an editor and get a contract.

Are you a conservative in your writing and stick with traditional ideas for your characters and plots or do you like to go beyond the norm and toss in the unexpected and why? The simple answer to this is that my approach to writing has never been conservative or traditional. In fact, the same is true of the way I live my life.

Do you need quiet when you write, listen to music, or have the TV on and family around? I need SOMEthing. A ball game, music, t.v. , anything, but NOT silence.

Have you experienced the "dreaded" writer's block and how did you deal with it? I have never experienced writer’s block. I’ve never been able to afford to. My schedule just would never permit it.

Who is your favorite fictional character that you have created? Too many to choose from. Some of them are mystery characters—Nick Delvecchio, Eddie G. Western characters? Lancaster, Tracker and, probably, The Gunsmith.

Who is your favorite fictional character that someone else created? In westerns I’d say William Tell Sackett, for sentimental reasons. When I was young I liked Max Brand’s Silvertip. Also Edge, Steele, Gunn, but probably my VERY favorite character is Fargo, from the Ben Haas series.

Do you address "modern" issues in Westerns? Racism. Feminism. Downs Syndrome. Mental disabilities. Genetic disorders. Sociopathy. Immigrant questions. Brutality. Pedophilia. Any more? I do, probably more lately then in the past. In GALLLOWS recently I covered spousal abuse in the West.

What are you writing right now? The first in a new Nashville based P.I. series, 2 historical short stories, and about to start the new Gunsmith and another Rat Pack book.

Do you make a living writing? If not, what is your day job? I have made a living writing for the past 30 years.

What do you plan to write in the future? Everything!

What made you decide to write Western fiction? I backed into it when I was asked if I could write Westerns. I had no idea, so I said yes. I was asked to create an Adult Western series and came up with The Gunsmith. After that it was just fun—and profitable—to keep doing it.

The Traditional West: A Western Fictioneers Anthology

2011-07-23T05:00:00.006-05:00

The classic American Western returns in this collection of brand-new stories by some of the top Western writers in the world today. Twenty-four members of Western Fictioneers, the only writers’ organization devoted solely to traditional Western fiction, take readers from the dusty plains of Texas to the sweeping vistas of Montana and beyond, in the biggest original Western anthology ever published!

Western Fictioneers was founded in 2010 to promote the oldest genuine American art form, the Western story. Its worldwide membership includes best-selling, award-winning authors of Western fiction, as well as the brightest up-and-coming new stars in the Western field. The organization’s first anthology features original stories by Steven Clark, Phil Dunlap, Edward A. Grainger, James J. Griffin, Jerry Guin, C. Courtney Joyner, Jackson Lowry, Larry Jay Martin, Matthew P. Mayo, Rod Miller, Clay More, Ross Morton, Kerry Newcomb, Scott D. Parker, Pete Peterson, Cheryl Pierson, Kit Prate, Robert J. Randisi, James Reasoner, Dusty Richards, Troy D. Smith, Larry D. Sweazy, Chuck Tyrell, and L.J. Washburn. With original cover artwork by acclaimed artist Pete Peterson, THE TRADITIONAL WEST is more than 120,000 words of classic Western fiction.

Available on Amazon. Barnes and Noble and a trade paperback will be coming soon.

Western Writer Bill Crider

2011-07-18T06:00:00.001-05:00

What was your first Western novel or story and was it published? The first western novel I did was one I called Texas Tornado. This was before I’d published anything at all, and it was never published, either. However, several years later I told my agent that I’d always wanted to write a western. She said, “Go ahead.” I wrote Ryan Rides Back, and the agent sent it to Sara Ann Freed at M. Evans. Sara Ann bought it, and I decided to write another one. I pulled out the old Texas Tornado manuscript, threw out some of the plot and characters and put what was left into one called Galveston Gunman. Years after that I was asked about writing a house-name western, and most of the rest of Texas Tornado went into that one. So while the first western I wrote didn’t get published as it was, a lot of it eventually saw print.

What Western writer or writers of the past were the biggest influence on your work? Harry Whittington, Donald Hamilton, Brian Garfield, and Elmore Leonard. I don’t write like any of them and I don’t write half as well, but I loved their books. Still do.

What's the first Western you remember reading from cover to cover? Will James’ Smoky the Cowhorse. I got it from the library when I was seven or eight and read it several times. We didn’t have many books in the house, but one slim one my parents bought me, maybe before I read Smoky, was called Little Bear’s Pinto Pony. I must have read that one dozens of times. I still have it.

Who is your favorite historical Western figure, and why? Buffalo Bill, the legendary one, not the historical one. My parents had something to do with that, mainly because of my name. They talked about Buffalo Bill a lot, and they gave me a little book with a story about him in it. I lost that one somewhere along the way, but I still remember a couple of the pictures in it.

How much historical research do you do, and how do you go about it? It depends on the book. I did a lot of research for Galveston Gunman, and it’s probably my most historically accurate western. Sometimes I rely more on what I remember from books I’ve read or movies I’ve seen. I probably shouldn’t admit that.

Do you do all your research ahead of time, or as you go along? Usually I do the research beforehand. That’s how I did it with Galveston Gunman. I had stacks of books all over the place as I was writing, however, so I could refer to them. Maybe I do some research as I go along, after all.

Do you outline and plot your story or do you write as the inspiration or MUSE leads? I’m a seat-of-the pants kind of a guy. I start with a vague idea, maybe a scene or even just a sentence, sit down, and start typing to see what happens. Usually a book comes along and fills the pages. I’ve discovered that by the halfway point, I know pretty much what’s going to happen the rest of the way, but sometimes surprises happen even then.

Are you a conservative in your writing and stick with traditional ideas for your characters and plots or do you like to go beyond the norm and toss in the unexpected and why? I do whatever I want to, so sometimes odd things occur. I’ve never had singing pirates on the prairies like some people I could name, but I probably shouldn’t even mention that lesbian vampire cannibal western. I blame James Reasoner for that one.

Do you need quiet when you write, listen to music, or have the TV on and family around? There was a time when I wrote with music playing on the computer and a baseball game on the radio. Now that I’m an old codger, I often don’t have those distractions. My wife still feels free to interrupt at any time, however.

Do you make a living writing? If not, what is your day job? Until I took early retirement, I was a college English teacher and administrator. I was writing three or four books a year, writing only in the evenings. Now that I’m no longer teaching, two books a year is about what I do. I’ve gotten old and lazy.

What are you writing now, or plan to write in the future? I turned in a book in my Sheriff Dan Rhodes series (a contemporary crime series) on June 1. Since then, I’ve been on vacation.

Western Writer Chuck Tyrell (Charles T. Whipple)

2011-07-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

What was your first Western novel or story and was it published? My first Western novel was Vulture Gold. I wrote it in 1979 and entered it in a Louis L’Amour write-alike contest. Didn’t win. Decided I wasn’t cut out to write fiction and continued as a journalist, magazine feature writer, copywriter, and corporate literature writer. I don’t remember why I dusted the manuscript off and input it (it was written on an IBM Selectric). But I sold it to Black Horse Westerns in 2004. It was published in 2005, and republished in 2011. It is now available in several eBook formats and in print. Originally, the book was about 70,000 words long. Now it is 45,000 or so.

What Western writer or writers of the past were the biggest influence on your work? A bunch. People have things to say about Louis L’Amour, but I read every book he wrote. I donated my collection of LL books to a university of foreign languages in Kanazawa, Japan, some years ago.

Gordon Sherriffs is a favorite. Clair Huffaker is a favorite. Richard Wheeler and Elmer Kelton are favorites. Will Henry, too. I’m also finding Elmore Leonard’s early stories very interesting and informative.

All that said, if I were to pick a writer to emulate, it would probably be Robert B. Parker. And if a genie came out of a lamp I’d rubbed and offered to let me write exactly like any writer I chose to, I’d choose James Michener and John Gardner and ask the genie to mix them into one for me.

What's the first Western you remember reading from cover to cover? Smokey the Cow Horse by Will James

Who is your favorite historical Western figure, and why? Commodore Perry Owens. He lived the life we all write about. Named for Commodore Perry, hero of the Battle of Lake Erie. Had to leave home in his early teens. Punched cattle for the Rogers (as in Will Rogers) ranch in Oklahoma, drifted into Arizona at the age of 31. Worked as the horse wrangler for Wells Fargo at the Navajo Springs station (I have a piece of wood from the original station, no longer extant, just a swale that was once a watering hole). Ran for sheriff on a law and order ticket and won over the incumbent Juan Lorenso Hubbel, who, it was said, was in cahoots with the outlaws that used the Outlaw Trail through Apache County in Arizona. He enforced the county law with the barrel of his gun, shooting it out with nine members of the Snyder Gang in Round Valley, riding his horse to death to rescue three Mexicans held prisoner in a bar in Winslow, and killing Andy Cooper in the famous shootout in Holbrook, Arizona, in 1886. He was a dead shot, wore his blond hair down past his shoulders as a challenge to the Navajos who were constantly trying to shoot him, and he wore his sixgun on the lefthand side for a cross draw. He married at 50 and moved to Seligman where he opened a saloon. He worked as guard for the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. He died of a stroke at 61 and is buried in Flagstaff AZ.

How much historical research do you do, and how do you go about it? Depends on the novel. For the Snake Den, set in Yuma Territorial Prison, I went there and spent two days going through the prison, buying reference books, talking to the Arizona Historical Society people there, etc. Same kind of thing with Vulture Gold, which begins in Vulture City AZ, now a ghost town.

Revenge at Wolf Mountain is set in my own home country, which I know well. Most of the ranches actually exist, but I used a Mexican grant which does not exist in that area, although there are others in both Arizona and New Mexico. The same it true with Trail of a Hard Man. I create fictional towns at times, but often I use real towns as settings or as part of the narrative.

The Killing Trail takes place in a fictional setting, but is linked to Trail of a Hard Man.

Guns of Ponderosa takes place in the White Mountain town of McNary, which once was home to the largest sawmill and planer operation in the Southwest. I renamed the town, and shifted its founding back into history by about 40 years.

Hell Fire in Paradise is a prequel to Guns of Ponderosa.

A Man Called Breed is set in the desert area of southern Arizona, east of Ehrenburg and La Paz. The hero’s horse ranch is located in the Cherry Creek country just below the Mogollon Rim.

Dollar a Day begins in Sunset, which no longer exists, and ends up in Payson, again, just off the Mogollon Rim in the Tonto Basin.

These are all places I know, but I still use an Arizona flora and fauna book to make sure I get my trees and stuff right. Wouldn’t want the hero bit by a Gila Monster up in the Tonto Basin because they don’t get that high off the desert floor.

I do a lot of looking up on guns. One character in my current WIP carries a Baker 3-barrel 10-guage. The hero in A Man Called Breed carried a Rogers & Spencer pistol, which were considered very accurate. He also carries a one-in-a-thousand Winchester ’73.

I’ve got lots of books on history and fashions and whatnot. I try very hard to put my people in places and circumstances that fit the times I’m writing about.

How important is setting? How important is it to get setting right? What's the best use of setting in a Western as far as you're concerned? I think setting can and probably should be one of the characters. I’ve been reading some early novels and it seems there’s always a rain storm. People seem to forget that places like Show Low, Arizona, get a total of 8 inches of rain a year. Chances of an all day all night rain storm in most of the southwest at least are so close to zero it wouldn’t be worth figuring out the difference. I vote for getting the setting right. Have a look at the towns. There are plenty of photos. See any alleys? Not likely. Know what’s out back? Piles of rubbish. We have the data. No reason to get setting wrong.

James Michener’s Centennial is as good a portrayal of setting as I’ve read, I believe, but there are many good stories. Some of Elmore Leonard’s early (1950s) stories have setting as one of the characters.

How do you choose where to begin your story? Do you use prologues? I have not used a prologue yet. That does not rule out using a prologue at some time.

Most often I see a character and a situation. Most often the first chapter sets up a tough situation. Mostly I know how the story starts and how it’s supposed to end, and I write the story in between. Sometimes the ending changes.

Do you do all your research ahead of time, or as you go along? Both.

Which of your characters do you identify with the most, and why? Was there a role model for this particular character? I have a bunch of characters I like, which is why they show up as walk-ons in stories that have nothing to do with them. Ness Havelock is one. Real Lee is another. I imagine Falan “Wolf” Wilder will see more action. Lightning By God Brewster will be around, as will his sidekick Sparrow. I’m now writing the second Matthew Stryker novel.

Do you outline and plot your story or do you write as the inspiration or MUSE leads? So far, as I mentioned, I tend to have an opening and a closing in mind when I start. That said, I think I would write better stories if I thought them out somewhat more detailed in advance. I’ve not found myself adept at plotting. I think I need to learn that skill, but I’m not losing sleep over it. At this time in my life, I have no aspirations of writing the great American novel. I just hope to do a few more before I, like Robert Parker, die at my desk, trying to finish my last . . . .

Are you a conservative in your writing and stick with traditional ideas for your characters and plots or do you like to go beyond the norm and toss in the unexpected and why? I suppose I am conservative. I am in most things. I imagine my characters are much more black and white than the shades of gray that were actually the case in the times we write about. You’ve got to remember that writing fiction is a relatively new thing for me. James and Bob and others have hundreds of novels under their belts. I’m trying to hit a dozen. I write some fiction every day, but I write a lot more other stuff – everything from CSR reports to magazine articles. I have a lot to learn about writing and writing fiction. I’m constantly amazed at the young whippersnappers who brazenly purport to be able to teach people to write. How’s that for wandering far from the point? Yes, conservative, but not hidebound.

Do you need quiet when you write, listen to music, or have the TV on and family around? I tend to want the same environment every day. Doesn’t have to be quiet. Doesn’t have to be musical. Just the same. A number of my books were written at Starbucks. That’s probably why I can’t lose weight. The chocolate is totally sinful.

Have you experienced the "dreaded" writer's block and how did you deal with it? Writer’s block comes from two things, in my experience: One, a loss of confidence in your own ability to tell a story, and two, dead-ending in a story, that is, writing yourself into a corner. When your confidence goes out the window, as when you get especially nasty edits from someone, or when they tell you the story did nothing for them, you do something else. I suggest to others that they try Julie Cameron’s morning pages – three pages of handwritten whatever comes to mind first thing in the morning. Hand on paper with pen and ink tends to get your writerly blood flowing and tends to stimulate your frozen brain.

Who is your favorite fictional character that you have created? I suppose Ness Havelock is my favorite, as he’s showed up in a number of books, though only one as the main character. He was my first and so far only first-person narrator. I also like Shawn Brodie, the 14-year-old who was sent to Yuma Territorial Prison. I will pick him up in a new book if I live long enough.

Who is your favorite fictional character that someone else created? The one who sticks in my mind is Tyrel Sackett. No way you can figure out why, eh?

Do you address "modern" issues in Westerns? Racism. Feminism. Downs Syndrome. Mental disabilities. Genetic disorders. Sociopathy. Immigrant questions. Brutality. Pedophilia. Any more? Not sure if it’s an “addressing,” but often my characters have a disability. Garet Havelock, the half-Cherokee marshal of Vulture City, had a bad knee. Wynn Cahill, in Guns of Ponderosa, was a sadist sociopath. Loved to see things in pain. Judge Wilson in Trail of a Hard Man was a pedophile who “took in” orphaned boys. His pedophilia was not so much sexual as sadist. Squirly, in the present work in progress, is not very smart, but he takes care of Wildman Kelly, who is not “normal” by ordinary standards, but not violent either. I once did a story from the frist-person POV of Boo Radley. I imagine there was some PTSD following the Late Unpleasantness that is better known as the Civil War, too, but I haven’t seen a novel addressing it yet.

What are you writing right now? A story about a man who keeps the promise he made to the town drunk.

Have you found that being able to self publish through Kindle and Nook, that you find yourself writing more of what you want rather than what the agent, editor, and publisher wants? The biggest advantage, as I’m not a terribly prolific author, is getting books that have gone out of print, such as Vulture Gold, back out there so readers can find them. My second novel, Revenge at Wolf Mountain, will also reappear in the not too distant future in its original unabridged form at about 80,000 words instead of the 45,000 version published by Robert Hale Ltd.

Do you make a living writing? If not, what is your day job? Yes. But not writing fiction. I would starve on the proceeds from my fiction at the moment. That said, I get paid well to write advertising, corporate literature, web content, and non-fiction articles, many of them in narrative form. One article brings me nearly five times as much as one Black Horse Western book, and about the same as the advance for a paperback original, if I’m not mistaken. I also write non-fiction books under my own name. Seeing Japan is a perennial seller to visitors to this country.

What do you plan to write in the future? I have two “works in progress” outside westerns. One is a saga set in an alternative version of 10^th century Japan, where all mythical creatures exist. The other is a gumshoe of an investigative journalist hero who searches for a missing woman in a Japan where a large amount of plutonium has been stolen from the Tokaimura nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. Naturally, the kidnapper and the kingpin who wants a nuclear Japan are one and the same. Trouble. Trouble.

What made you decide to write Western fiction? I was born 100 years too late. Since I made the decision to make my living with my pen, so to speak, I also set my sights on writing a Western novel. I also joined the National Association for Outlaw and Lawman History (now defunct) with a lifetime membership. The Louis L’Amour writealike contest came about three years after I started writing newspaper copy and then advertising copy, but got put on hold while I formed my own company, edited two magazines, wrote for Time and Newsweek and the Herald Trib, then became a stringer for two technology industry mags, but I kept the home fires warm, kept sending the re-edited versions out and kept getting them back. Until John Hale at Robert Hale Ltd. said he’d publish the book if I’d cut it down to less than 45,000 words. I’d already written the follow-up novel with the same protagonist. It, too, went under the knife, and was accepted by Hale. Here I am. I love writing about the West, partly as I knew it growing up in a ranch-like environment in northern Arizona, partly because I feel there was something in those people that we need to remember and emulate.

Sweazy Won The 2011 Will Rogers Medallion Award

2011-07-04T05:00:00.002-05:00

Larry D. Sweazy's novel, The Scorpion Trail (Josiah Wolfe #2), has won the 2011 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Fiction.

The Will Rogers Medallion Award is presented each year to those books that represent an Outstanding Achievement in the publishing of Western Literature. They are books that exemplify outstanding excellence in content and design with an enduring quality that preserves and celebrates the history and spirit of the West and the memory of Will Rogers.

Congratulations Larry!

WF (Western Fictioneers) Peacemaker 2011 Award submissions

2011-07-01T08:59:00.005-05:00

Submissions for the WF Peacemaker Awards are being accepted for works published in the year 2011. Rules, judges, and submission forms can be found on the WF Website.

Western Writer Pete Peterson

2011-06-27T06:00:00.005-05:00

What was your first Western novel or story and was it published? The first manuscript that I wrote was THE SHAME OF JACKASS JAKE, retitled A DARK TRAIL WINDING at the request of the publisher. It found print only after several years of trying to get someone to even read it, and was actually my third book to be published. The first novel I had published was THE RELENTLESS GUN.

What Western writer or writers of the past were the biggest influence on your work? Louis L’Amour, Will Henry, Tony Hillerman, Elmer Kelton

Is there a particular scene from a Western novel that was so powerful when you read it that it stuck with you? Perhaps has become a scene you've tried to live up to/equal in your own writing? . I’ve read a lot of powerful stuff by western writers: the opening scene of Lonesome Dove with the pigs eating the rattlesnake; the scene where Estleman’s Page Murdock finds the lynched lawmen, …and you can’t read Elmore Leonard, Will Henry, Elmer Kelton and a host of others (including WF’s Reasoner, Sherman, Randisi, Roderus, ad infinitum) without having your socks knocked off again and again.

What's the first Western you remember reading from cover to cover? MOUNTAIN MAN by Vardis Fisher.

Who is your favorite historical Western figure, and why? JEDIDIAH SMITH, mountain man, explorer, trapper. His thirst for new horizons took him and his followers throughout the west. He was an educated and spiritual, bible-toting man in an often pagan and hostile land.

How much historical research do you do, and how do you go about it? Everything I’ve written has been thoroughly and painstakingly researched, and is true to the conditions and character of the country and its inhabitants as they existed during the period in which the story takes place. I still mostly use references from municipal and private libraries, preferring the tactile solidity of books to the ether of the web.

How important is setting? How important is it to get setting right? What's the best use of setting in a Western as far as you're concerned? Setting is vital! Every picture needs a background. The reader must imagine he feels what the character is feeling. Is it hot? Cold? Stormy, or a bright, sunny day? Is the hero in a lush forest, feeling serene, or in a dark cavern where danger is lurking?

How do you choose where to begin your story? Do you use prologues? I use a prologue only if I feel it is needed for background or history to establish the plot, to flesh out characters, or to pre-condition the reader to a situation. Where I begin depends a lot on where I’m going, and on pre-planning. Sometimes that little voice just says, “start here”.

Do you do all your research ahead of time, or as you go along? Most of it from notes or outline, then I fill in as I go. A lot depends on the story, the complexity of where, how and when.

Which of your characters do you identify with the most, and why? Was there a role model for this particular character? Jacob Eriksson, “Jackass Jake,” of A DARK TRAIL WINDING. He made some self-serving and bad decisions that pushed him to the edge of destruction, and only a complete change of lifestyle, and the help of a mentor, saved him. Me, and others like me, were the role models.

Do you outline and plot your story or do you write as the inspiration or MUSE leads? I mostly outline, at least use plot notes. Again, the complexity of the story dictates the amount of research. I’ll admit to inspiration, but I’m not so sure that I have a ‘muse’.

Are you a conservative in your writing and stick with traditional ideas for your characters and plots or do you like to go beyond the norm and toss in the unexpected and why? Traditional and conservative pretty well describes my writing style, though occasionally one of my maverick characters takes off on a tangent of his own and surprises me. I am not always politically correct; I tell it like it was then, not how modern society thinks it should have been.

Do you need quiet when you write, listen to music, or have the TV on and family around? I prefer quiet, but sometimes it’s hard to come by. I occasionally write at night when the household is asleep.

Have you experienced the "dreaded" writer's block and how did you deal with it? Jack Dancer of THE RELENTLESS GUN and RECKONING AT RAINDANCE is my favorite creation so far. I caught him when he was young and brought him up right.

Who is your favorite fictional character that you have created? Writer’s block? Sure… about twice a day when I’m writing. I just write through it, then go back later and polish and shine it. I think it’s called editing.

Who is your favorite fictional character that someone else created? There are many, but Estleman’s Deputy Page Murdock jumps to the fore. He is salty, irreverent, tough and humorous, and wise enough to be scared when the situation calls for it.

Do you address "modern" issues in Westerns? Racism. Feminism. Downs Syndrome. Mental disabilities. Genetic disorders. Sociopathy. Immigrant questions. Brutality. Pedophilia. Any more? Not intentionally, but sometimes they crop up in the telling. Again, I am not always politically correct. Time and place. Time and place.

What are you writing right now? Nothing. I’m trying to sell what I’ve already written: a 107,000 word historical adventure, and what I believe to be my best work.

Have you found that being able to self publish through Kindle and Nook, that you find yourself writing more of what you want rather than what the agent, editor, and publisher wants? I’m just getting into e-publishing. I still prefer the heft and feel and smell and looks of the printed word, but I see where we’re headed, too, and I guess I’ll tag along.

Do you make a living writing? If not, what is your day job? No, I’m a retired advertising man. I dabble in writing and in painting.

What do you plan to write in the future? More westerns, with maybe a foray into crime fiction.

What made you decide to write Western fiction? I love it. As a callow youth, I imagined myself a mountain man, fighting wild beasts and savages. What I ended up fighting was boards of directors. So now, I can strap on my sixgun and fight editors and agents.

Review of Larry D. Sweazy's The Badger's Revenge

2011-06-22T06:00:00.002-05:00

SWEAZY, LARRY D. The Badger’s Revenge. Berkley Publishing. Softcover, 320 pps., $6.99. ISBN 9780425240489.

The third book in Sweazy’s Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger series, The Badger’s Revenge, is aptly titled, as the book serves up that cold dish left, right, and center. It also whips up a mess of guns, heat, trail dust, Texas Rangers, Comanche Indians, and people stuck in hard-luck lives, doing their best with the cards they’ve been dealt. This time out, Josiah Wolfe has a price on his head. He is dogged by two Comanche scouts, a murderous Irishman nicknamed The Badger, and the whiff of something—or someone—unseen and dangerous.

It’s a pleasure for me to sink back into the dusty, dangerous, and complex world of everyman Josiah Wolfe. His rich inner monologues, his self-doubts, and his moments of emotional vulnerability counter the convictions that form who he is and what he stands for. But in The Badger’s Revenge, that rigid moral core threatens to fill him completely.

As with all of Sweazy’s characters, Wolfe is refreshingly human. Even the bad guys aren’t wholly bad, they’re driven by understandable, if unacceptable, impulses. Wolfe is still plagued by a bloody war and the brutal deaths of his wife and daughters. His young son is a constant reminder of what should have been, and his trying friendship with Scrap Elliott hints at something unknown, but looming.

The Badger’s Revenge is a richly layered story that offers twists and turns that dare the reader to speculate who is guilty and why. There is blood, killing, deceit, anger, mistrust, and betrayal and, in the midst of it, Josiah Wolfe does his best to keep it all at arm’s length as he tries to make sense of the mayhem, even as bullets whistle by his ears. My only complaint is that since I have grown so fond of these characters and Sweazy’s artful unfolding of their predicaments, I have to wait for the fourth book before I find out what happens next.

—Matthew P. Mayo

Western Writer Frank Roderus

2011-06-20T06:00:00.011-05:00

What was your first Western novel or story and was it published? My first Western was DUSTER, a YA that was rejected by a rather nasty agent who said I would never be able to write. Crushed me and kept me from submitting for some years. Then I re-read the ms, submitted it to the smallest publishing house I could find...and they bought it. I haven't looked back since.

What Western writer or writers of the past were the biggest influence on your work? Alan LeMay (THE SEARCHERS, THE UNFORGIVEN). Once I found him I was hooked. Still am. Hooked on his films as much as his novels. Wow.

Is there a particular scene from a Western novel that was so powerful when you read it that it stuck with you? Perhaps has become a scene you've tried to live up to/equal in your own writing? In THE UNFORGIVEN, Andy, dying, knowing he is dying, lying in wait until the Kiowa warrior is actually scalping him before he strikes so that he can be sure he kills the hated enemy. I know I will never be able to equal that.

What's the first Western you remember reading from cover to cover? Will Henry's NO SURVIVORS. Heckuva book.

Who is your favorite historical Western figure, and why? U.S. deputy marshal Bill Tilghman, one of The Three Guardsmen (along with Chris Madsen and Heck Thomas) riding for Hanging Judge Parker's Federal court. The man was everything a lawman should be.

How much historical research do you do, and how do you go about it? I rarely research anything specific for a book but read a lot of history for pleasure.

How important is setting? How important is it to get setting right? What's the best use of setting in a Western as far as you're concerned? To me setting is just a place for my characters to get into trouble so I can hopefully get them out again.

How do you choose where to begin your story? Do you use prologues? I try to find something that will introduce my primary characters. Anything. I do not use prologues.

Do you outline and plot your story or do you write as the inspiration or MUSE leads? No outline. No prepared plot. I like to find a character and let him tell the story.

Do you need quiet when you write, listen to music, or have the TV on and family around? I prefer to have music but can get along with pretty much anything.

Have you experienced the "dreaded" writer's block and how did you deal with it? I don't think there is such a thing as writers block. There is sloth. And depression. But no real block.

Do you make a living writing? If not, what is your day job? Writing is my only job and has been for more than thirty years. I am truly blessed.

What made you decide to write Western fiction? My grew up in Florida and my parents wondered the same thing. Then one night we were watching some very old home movies. I was nearly always wearing a cowboy hat or cap guns or on my Hopalong Cassidy bicycle. Ah, what a fine steed that was too.

Western Writer L.J. Martin

2011-06-13T06:00:00.030-05:00

What was your first Western novel or story and was it published? My first novel was actually a historical, Shadow of the Mast, and I finally made a buck off it 20 years after writing when it was brought out in audio. I’ve since published it with my own imprint and it’s on Amazon and does okay. My second, the first sold to a publisher, was Tenkiller, picked out of the slush pile at Zebra.

What Western writer or writers of the past were the biggest influence on your work? L’Amour, off course, but all the great old writers and some of the new, Leonard and Parker. But as important, Sidney Sheldon, Wilber Smith, and many thriller and mystery writers. Writing is writing, and compelling novels are just that. It’s only time and place and lexicon that changes.

Is there a particular scene from a Western novel that was so powerful when you read it that it stuck with you? Perhaps has become a scene you've tried to live up to/equal in your own writing? Although I disagree with the basic premise of High Noon (a short story), I loved the juxtaposition of the characters and conflict. It’s a great drama.

What's the first Western you remember reading from cover to cover? Probably a Zane Grey, but it was a long time ago. I began reading fiction in the 7^th grade and by the end of high school had read most of what was then published of Steinbeck, Hemmingway, Rand, Shelton, MacLean, Spillane, and others.

Who is your favorite historical Western figure, and why? No question, Edward Fitzgerald Beale, who I think was the quintessential western man. His exploits eclipsed those of even Kit Carson and certainly of John Fremont. Beale crossed the country horseback 13 times, riding from California to D.C. one time to knock cold George Moneypenny, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, who accused him of malfeasance as an Indian agent. He was a record setting sailing master of Stockton's ship; the hero of the battle of San Pasqual; carried the first evidence of California gold, a seven pound nugget he bought with his own money, to President Polk, thus starting the gold rush, and beating the Army to D.C. with the news, even though he left four days later; he was an early Indian agent in California, and an honest one; the surveyor general of California, keeping California in the Union as he convinced Lincoln that California would go with the south if conscription was ordered; he was the leader of the great Camel expedition; he built the first wagon road to California; he consolidated four Spanish land grants into what's still the largest private property ownership in California, the Tejon Ranch; he was a friend and confidant of Grant; he ran guns to the Mexicans during their struggle for independence; he ended his career as the Minister to Austria Hungary; and so, so much more. He ended life successful and never sought praise, and didn't have a wife to chronicle his exploits as did Custer and Fremont. Kit Carson said "I can't believe this guy Ned Beale," which is high praise indeed. He was happily married, having made his wife a wedding ring from that huge nugget. He was the subject of my biographical novel RUSH TO DESTINY, which elicited my favorite compliment as a writer when a high school history teacher said, "my students learn more California history from your novel than from their texts, and love doing so."

How much historical research do you do, and how do you go about it? Biographies and auto-biographies, journals, diaries, and old newspapers are my best source of material and provide great time and place. I have one wonderful 3 volume set of Alfred Doten journals that I always refer to. Doten arrived in Virginia City, NV in 1854 and was the newspaper editor there for 50 years. He kept accurate journals of day to day life. Unfortunately when he married he went back and erased all the parts about visits to the city’s brothels. The editor, however, was able to reconstitute some.

How important is setting? How important is it to get setting right? What's the best use of setting in a Western as far as you're concerned? Setting is another character. But more than that, if you use an actual area or town you MUST be accurate. Hitler said “tell them three truths and they’ll believe your lie.” Well, in fiction, tell them three truths and they’re more likely to believe your fiction. Involving the reader is your first responsibility if you want to write compelling, can’t-put-it-down, fiction. And if they see something they know is wrong, it breaks the reading trance and you’ve lost “compelling.” Western readers are very knowledgeable. I once put a cigar type in a tale and got a letter from a reader, “You used that cigar in 1873 and it wasn’t on the market until 1875.”

How do you choose where to begin your story? Do you use prologues? I don’t use prologues, I begin with a hook if possible (and it’s always possible if you’re clever enough to figure it out). My last western, NEMESIS, began with “It’s been fifteen years since I’ve killed a man.” Let’s hope that compels the reader to keep reading.

Do you do all your research ahead of time, or as you go along? As I go, I don’t always know the questions yet. I do know the setting and some of it I research as settings change.

Which of your characters do you identify with the most, and why? Was there a role model for this particular character? With the hero, of course, who else?

Do you outline and plot your story or do you write as the inspiration or MUSE leads? I know the beginning and the end (usually). Then all I’ve got to do is fill in the middle without getting a “saggy middle.”

Are you a conservative in your writing and stick with traditional ideas for your characters and plots or do you like to go beyond the norm and toss in the unexpected and why? Interesting characters make for interesting reading. My last hero was attracted to a whore and a preacher’s daughter, and the whore ended up having a good heart and the preacher’s daughter’s was a little on the black side. One of the most compelling western characters I’ve read was a humpback.

Do you need quiet when you write, listen to music, or have the TV on and family around? I raised four sons, what do you think? I almost always have something on the TV or music channel. If it’s too quiet, when you’re raising sons, they’re up to something.

Have you experienced the "dreaded" writer's block and how did you deal with it? As I relate to young writers, when I hire a carpenter to build a new garage and I walk out to see him staring at a pile of lumber, does he have carpenter’s block? If you claim to be a writer, write. Sit down and start typing, and soon, you’ll be writing.

Who is your favorite fictional character that you have created? Kind of like asking me who’s my favorite son. Sorry, can’t choose.

Who is your favorite fictional character that someone else created? Too many to name, however Shane is way up the list.

Do you address "modern" issues in Westerns? Racism. Feminism. Downs Syndrome. Mental disabilities. Genetic disorders. Sociopathy. Immigrant questions. Brutality. Pedophilia. Any more? You don’t think Billy the Kid was a sociopath? I didn’t know those were “modern.” Seems like they’re humanity issues and have been with us always.

What are you writing right now? I’m working on a thriller and a non-fiction on promoting your work on the internet. Then it’s a sequel to my last western.

Have you found that being able to self publish through Kindle and Nook, that you find yourself writing more of what you want rather than what the agent, editor, and publisher wants? I never wrote what they wanted, only told them I was. By the time they get the book they can’t remember what you were supposed to write, and if it’s a good book, they don’t give a damn. But, yes, I love not having to deal with publishers, although many of them are still friends.

Do you make a living writing? If not, what is your day job? Yes, and so does my wife, far more than I do, thank God, and my day job is promoting her career which makes me more money than writing. If you figure out how to work more than ten or twelve hours a day, please advise.

What do you plan to write in the future? Fiction and more fiction and work on my cookbook which is an ongoing project. The problem with a cookbook is your waistline.

What made you decide to write Western fiction? Even though I was born and raised in central California, my town was the Oklahoma and Texas of California, where many of the dust bowl folks landed. In high school I worked in the fields. I was a western guy, a hunter, a packer and wrangler (at a boys camp in the high Sierra), and always wore Levi’s and boots. We have three horses now, and have to pull fence and trim hoofs. My town was Nashville west, the home of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard (who I picked up hitchhiking one day about a half century or more ago). I spoke the language. My wife’s family was old time rodeo, her dad a PRCA team roper, and her uncle one of the sports finest bullfighters. It was the easiest genre to step into.

May I Sign That For You?

2011-06-06T05:55:00.001-05:00

Or Booksigning 1A

L.J. Martin

Booksignings.

To some authors, they’re about as much fun as a root canal.

Booksignings, after the initial ego gratification of a first book, are a unique form of torture where one sits astride a cold metal chair in a corner of a musty book store while passerby’s presume you’re registering voters or offering petitions to “save the whales.”

But they can be a career builder, sometimes even ego gratifying, and a way to sell books. To some of you, that concept, selling books, may be repugnant. In fact, selling anything may be repulsive to you. Having been a salesman all my life, it’s second nature to me, and, by the way, it’s also the highest paying profession in the world. To put it in your perspective, even Louie, D. Steel and S. King are pikers in the income department compared to some of this country’s great salespeople.

Nothing happens in this free enterprise system of ours until someone sells something. Publishers can’t pay the help, or buy manuscripts, or sponsor book tours unless someone is out there selling books.

And it’s my belief that it’s your responsibility as a major contributor to the book process to contribute to that effort--at least to not hinder it.

But selling, like writing, is a craft. A learned art that takes some practice.

The fact is your writing career can’t grow unless your readership grows. So the more of your books you get into the hands of readers, the more opportunity you have to find a few who like what you do, and may just look for your next book without you personally shoving it into a reluctant hand.

There’s only one primary reason to do a booksigning, and that’s to sell books. Delbert, the bookstore manager at D. Balton has not gone to the trouble of stocking a case of your Cruising the Strip Joints of Southern Louisiana, of contacting your publisher or his own corporate office and getting that great poster made, of rounding up a table and chair and vase of plastic flowers because he wants your sparkling company for a couple of hours.

And Delbert sure doesn’t want to re-pack and return forty five of the fifty books he’s stocked because his “author” has elected to read a good book rather than sell his own while he or she’s warming the booksigning throne. And you sure as hell don’t want him to strip the covers off those paperbacks and irritate your sacred sell-through. For those of you not familiar with the term “sell-through,” it’s the percentage of books not returned (presumed sold) of those shipped. In the case of Westerns, many times that percentage is as low as 40%. And I’m sure you’re aware that returning a book, when it’s a paperback, means only returning the cover. The rest of the 250 pages go to the shredder.

But back to booksigning. Reading a good book is definitely the wrong way to do a booksigning.

Besides selling books, there is a secondary reason for doing a booksigning, and that’s to please a bookseller. But trust me, you’ll please and impress them more if you sell the hell out of those books.

If you don’t want to sell, stay home. A signing is not an invitation to be idolized by an adoring public, it’s a bookstore to which you’ve been invited. A bookstore, with rent and light bills and personnel costs.

Unless you’re D. Steel or S. King, the likelihood of having a line of patrons salivating for a signature is slim-and-none and Slim’s out of town.

So what do you do? You take advantage of every live body within polite (and sometimes not so polite) speaking range. And you can do that far better if you set four simple ground rules with the bookstore before you agree to sign.

1. Find the right day to sign. An event at the location of the bookstore, a sidewalk sale for instance, that’s the best day to sign. More people, more targets.

2. You have to have people to sell to in order to sell, so locating in the highest traffic area of the bookstore is best, and out on the sidewalk or in the mall walkway itself is even better. You want to send the guy who came to the mall for a pair of BVD’s away with a book and a pair of BVD’s. It’s usually much easier to sell him a Western, than to sell one to the guy who came into a bookstore to buy a manual in order to pass his concrete contractor’s exam.

3. You need the books on the table, not on the shelf, even if you’re outside in the mall walkway. (You’ll see why later)

4. You don’t need a helper. Save the chat with the bookstore personnel until after the scheduled signing time. (He’ll “step on your close,” which I’ll explain in a moment.)

Now it’s up to you.

You’ve got the table, the prime location near the front entrance or out in the mall; a pile of books on hand; a great poster on the window behind you; and the manager and his employees, at your request, are leaving you to do your job. There are a lot of folks passing by, most intent on buying new underwear.

Now what?

Sell books, that’s what.

All direct selling is an interchange between buyer and seller. Great salespeople sell to those who may not yet know they want to buy. You can’t ask a closing question unless you establish a relationship, even the most tentative of ones, and you can’t do that without talking--communicating.

Step one is letting them know why you’re sitting on that cold chair.

Greet everyone who passes. “Hi! Are you a reader?” Or, “Do you read westerns?” Or, “Do you like strip joints?” Or whatever is applicable.

It’s seldom you get a “no” to the first question. You do occasionally get “What do you think I am, an imbecile?” To the second you may get a straight out “no,” then the question is, “How about your dad, or husband?” Or “An autographed book makes a great gift.”

This is the easy part. “Good morning, are you a reader?” is an easy question, but not a closing one, and closing questions are how you sell. If you get the least encouragement, the next piece of selling business is to get the book in the buyer’s hand. And you do that by handing it to him. “Have you read mine?”

This also informs him that you’re not about to ask him to sign a petition. Even though you’re sitting there with a pile of books and a poster, his mission was to buy a pair of skivvies or socks, so you’ve got to slow him down and make him think books. Let him read the cover copy. Don’t talk while he’s digesting the product. It, too, is there to sell.

Now maybe he gets it. You’re an author.

“Did you write this?” is something near what his next question will be.

“Yes, it’s a great guide if you’re into strip joints,” gives you a chance to relate to your buyer and his/her interests. The easiest sell is one that satisfies a need.

“Looks great,” he says. . . .And now is when 99.99% of you farm it out.

Now what.

Step two. A close, that’s what.

“May I sign that for you?” you ask, with your best smile.

It’s decision time. The book is in his hand, he’s already said it looks great. You’ve offered to autograph it. And more importantly, you’ve given him an easy question to answer. You haven’t asked, “Do you want to part with a hard-earned $5.95 rather than have lunch?” That’s a much tougher question to answer. His choice is replying, “No, doofus, I don’t want your autograph,” which is a little like saying “Who the hell are you?” Or admitting that he doesn’t have the $5.95 until pay day. All tough ego-preventing responses to your close. A much easier answer is “yes.”

You’ve asked your closing question, and he’s silent for an interminable five seconds. . .and you know what 99.999% of you will do? You’ll get sucked right into that maelstrom of torturous silence with, “That’s a great belt.” And you know what--you’ve let him off the hook. Now he can tell you about his Uncle Charley who does leather work, and ignore your close while casually slipping the book back on the table. You’ve given him the easy out--right through your big mouth.

Don’t ever forget that you’re doing them a favor by selling them your book. If you don’t believe that, stay home. Let someone else who believes in you, even if you don’t, sell your books.

The largest real estate deal I ever sold, I waited in silence 23 minutes (by the watch) after asking a closing question. Now, when you’re waiting for an answer that may mean a 50 foot sailboat or six bedroom house, 23 minutes seems enough time to read War and Peace. But, I knew the rule--first guy to speak loses. So I waited, and he took a couple of phone calls, looked out the window across San Francisco Bay for a while, and finally spoke--and I won, or should say “earned,” the largest commission of my life.

You speak, and he’s off the hook. Silence, is the salesperson’s best friend. Silence is the loudest closing technique of all. Not chatter. But silence after a closing question. Silence is what separates the salespeople with yachts from those with yearning. That’s why you don’t need the help of the manager or store personnel. They can stand the pressure even less, and they’ll speak into the silence. Hell, if they were trained to sell, they’d probably be making a lot of money somewhere else, not schlepping your books in a chain store while working their way through college so they can get as far from that bookstore as possible. They, in their well meaning enthusiasm, will “step” on your close every time--by speaking and letting your buyer off the hook.

You can’t get that book into their hands unless the books are on the table in front of you. If the bookstore owner is worried about someone hooking a book, then he doesn’t think much of the value of your time. You might be better off staying home and working on your next, Strip Joints of Northern Louisiana.

Kat, my wife, and I make a game out of booksignings. A contest, with inner self to sell more than we sold the last time, and with each other. Sometimes the closing questions go a little overboard, such as the time I suggested to a haggard looking man that he was probably going to have a heart attack if he didn’t relax with a good book. I lost that sale. But it was good advice. Or when Kat turned to a passing lady and asked, “Do you read?” before she noticed the red and white cane. To the lady's credit, she laughed even though she could not see Kat’s red face.

But then again, we sold 650 books in six hours—three two-hour booksignings in three consecutive days. And made a lot of friends at Anderson News.

And not one of those folks who walked away from that table with a book in their hands knew Kat or Larry Jay Martin from Adam’s off ox before that day.

Now they do.

A few other tricks to help you sell books for that hard-working bookseller.

Have a representation of all your titles on the table if you have more than one, not just your newest book—including a couple of your audios and large print titles, if you've got them.

Help him and yourself by providing him with press releases a couple of weeks in advance, or by offering to contact the press yourself and get those articles in the local paper. Sometimes large malls have their own newspapers! Sometimes military bases have their own papers, radio stations, and T.V. stations.

Sign all the unsold books before you leave. The bookseller is less likely to strip covers and return them if the books are signed. Chains will sometimes circulate those signed copies to other stores. And take and use your own “signed by the author” stickers.

Make sure some of your books remain on the shelves during the booksigning. Many times a shy customer will bypass you, but look for the book on the shelf or in the racks.

Don’t presume your buyer realizes you’re the author, even though you’ve got the book in his hand and told him it’s yours. He thinks it’s yours, as in ownership, and you want to sell it to him, not that it’s yours, as in authorship, even through you still want to sell it to him. Many times he thinks you’re a bookstore employee. Even these “not-so-quick-ones” may have the $5.95, and may become fans. Usually they’re not really slow, just distracted by the need of a new pair of BVD’s.

If you’re selling a Western, don’t be bashful about calling it a Historical if it’s a woman buyer, or a man who has expressed a dislike for “Westerns.” Or if she says she only reads suspense, your book is suddenly a suspense, in a western setting. Cross genre lines, you may do us all some good.

Dress the part. They want to see a star, give them a star.

Don’t be offended by anyone. Tell those who say they’ll wait until it’s in the library that you hope they do and to please read it when it arrives there, or those that want to wait to buy it in the used bookstore to make sure they tell their friends if they like it. Go on to the next live one. What you’re doing, after all, is not just selling, but selling in order to spread the word and build your readership. So spread the word, even if you don’t make a sale.

“I don’t read that crap,” is the worst you’ll normally get by being assertive. You must then assume he’s stupid because he probably doesn’t read any crap, not only your crap. Or more likely that his hemorrhoids are flaring up--as yours will be if you sit there unmoving and un-selling for two hours.

Get a signing partner if you’re so inclined. I sell a lot of books to ladies Kat stops, who don’t read romance or romantic suspense; and she sells a lot of books to women (and even men) I stop, who’ll buy for themselves or for mom or sis or grandma. But make sure you don’t step on each other’s closes.

Sell those books, and that two hours on a hard seat won’t even be noticed.

And maybe, just maybe, you'll win a few faithful fans.

THE OTHER GUNSMOKE

2011-06-04T14:04:00.004-05:00

by Jim Meals (James Clay)

No doubt, the recent death of James Arness has caused many western fans to reflect on some fine memories. I recall growing up with two very good, but also very different versions of Gunsmoke.

The story goes that Gunsmoke began when CBS President Bill Paley asked for a western radio series with a main character modeled after Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. Gunsmoke premiered on radio on April 26,1952 and the early episodes would seem to confirm this account. In the words of the show's producer, Norman Macdonnell, Matt Dillon was "..a lonely, sad, tragic man."

Dodge City was a dark place in the show's early years. Doc Adams was a ghoulish character who delighted in mutilated bodies. The only man Matt could really trust, Chester, was mentally very limited. As for Kitty, well, in the words of Macdonnell, "...Kitty is a prostitute plain and simple."

As the radio series progressed the characters softened to a degree. Doc lost his morbidity, but he remained an erratic individual given to drink and a bit lecherous. Chester became, in the words of Parley Baer, the actor who played him, “...a dependable nonthinker” and the relationship between Matt and Kitty became more affectionate, if also more vague. But the biggest change came in how all of these folks related to each other. After a year or so, they actually began to enjoy each other’s company.

When the TV version of Gunsmoke was in its early stages, a pilot was made using the radio cast. Of course, ultimately, a totally different cast was employed for the tube. Apparently, the pilot with the radio actors has been lost, a sad development for students of the western.

Comparing the TV and radio casts is a fool's errand but here goes: James Arness’ Matt Dillon was more in the traditional mode, while on radio, William Conrad portrayed Matt as a short-tempered, driven man. The Chandler influence never got completely scrubbed from the radio program. Milburn Stone’s Doc was a physician the AMA would heartily approve of, unlike Howard McNear’s radio version. Chester’s limp was a TV innovation which Dennis Weaver employed well.

A long overdue tip of the hat is here given to Georgia Ellis. Her Kitty had depth, strength and vulnerability in a characterization that Amanda Blake found hard to match.

Gunsmoke left radio on June 18, 1961. The show’s departure left behind only two half hour radio dramas. Those two programs were both on CBS and both departed on September 30, 1962. The golden age of radio was officially over.

(Thanks to John Dunning’s The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio which was a help in preparing this article.)

2010 Peacemaker Awards Announcement

2011-06-01T08:27:00.003-05:00

PRESS RELEASE 06/01/11

For Immediate Release:

Western Fictioneers (WF) is pleased to announce the WINNERs for the first annual (2010) Peacemaker Awards.

BEST SHORT STORY

WINNER:

Wayne Dundee, “This Old Star” from the anthology Bad Cop…No Donut (Padwolf Publishing)

FINALISTS:

Carol Crigger, “Left Behind” from the anthology Roundup! Great Stories of the West (La Frontera Publishing

C. Courtney Joyner , “Two-Bit Kill” from the anthology Law of the Gun (Kensington)

Matthew P. Mayo, “Scourge of Spoils” from the anthology Steampunk’d (DAW Books, Inc.)

Pete Peterson, “Catch a Killer by the Toe” published by Untreed Reads

BEST NOVEL:

WINNER:

Lyle Brandt (winner), Manhunt (Berkley)

FINALISTS:

Lyle Brandt, Avenging Angels (Berkley)

D.H. Eraldi, Settler’s Chase (Berkley)

Dusty Richards, Wulf’s Tracks (Berkley)

Kit Prate, Long Ride to Limbo -- Western Trail Blazer

(an imprint of Publishing by Rebecca J. Vickery)

S. Craig Zahler, Congregation of Jackals (Dorchester Publishing)

The Peacemaker Awards will be given out annually. Submissions for the 2011 awards will be open in July, 2011. Submission guidelines will be posted on the WF web site. For more information about Western Fictioneers (WF) please visit:

http://www.westernfictioneers.com/ or http://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to the winners and finalists!

2010 Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Awards

2011-05-08T15:52:00.000-05:00

The simple truth is that our young and still growing organization tried to do too much too soon. Consequently the first annual Peacemaker Awards will be announced in early June but will not host an awards ceremony in Bismarck later that month. All entries have been fully judged and the results will have been tabulated by that time. The announcement will be made on the Western Fictioneers blog for public view and by email to Western Fictioneers members. Peacemaker trophies will be awarded but will be delivered to the winners by mail. We regret any inconvenience this change might cause.

Frank Roderus
Western Fictioneers President

Another Jory Sherman Interview

2011-05-04T10:28:00.004-05:00

The excellent BookLifeNow website interviews Jory Sherman about writing. You can check it out here.

New Interviews with Robert J. Randisi and Jory Sherman

2011-05-01T09:38:00.000-05:00

New interviews with a pair of legendary Western authors have appeared recently. The website BookLifeNow talks with Robert J. Randisi here, while Writers of the West visits with Jory Sherman here. Between them, these two have written more than a thousand novels, many of them Westerns, and anyone with an interest in Western fiction should check out these interviews.

THE TOP TEN WESTERN COMICS- and a whole slew of runners-up

2011-04-25T05:00:00.001-05:00

By Troy D. Smith

Westerns have been a staple genre of comic books –with some ups and downs –since almost the beginning of the medium. Two regular titles started in February, 1937 (over a year before Superman ushered in the superhero age) –Chesler/Centaur Publications’ Star Ranger and Comics Magazines Company’s Western Picture Stories, which featured the artwork of the legendary Will Eisner. It was a few years, though, before Westerns became huge, with their glory years running from the mid-40s until the early 60s.

Many comics were based on movie cowboy heroes or TV westerns, but there were also plenty of characters who originated in the four-color version of the Old West. Superheroes, horror, and science fiction started pushing Westerns to the margins in the late 1960s, and by the late 70s even the longest running stalwarts had been canceled.

Only DC’s Jonah Hex survived into the 80s –and in 1985 the character was transferred to a Road-Warrior-esque apocalyptic setting. Prospects were pretty dim for Western comics in the 80s and 90s, with a few very noteworthy miniseries representing the genre (including several starring the aforementioned Hex.) In the new century, however, Western comics have made something of a comeback. They don’t dominate the market by a longshot, but it is no longer shocking to hear that a new Western series has started up.

I have compiled a “greatest of” list of Western comics. Such a venture is always very subjective, of course. I have sought the input of other professional western authors and/or comics professionals, and carefully tabulated the votes –some of the results surprised me. For one thing, I wasn’t expecting so many titles from outside the United States. Half-a-dozen European comics are listed –four from France and one each from Italy and Spain. This just goes to show that the appeal of the Western is universal.

I am including below the Top Ten, with background information about each title or character. After that I have included the runners-up, in ascending order according to how many “points” they got in the poll (#1 picks got more points than #10 picks, and etc.)

How did we do? Did we forget any, or include any that you believe undeserving? Do you have a list of your own? Leave a comment, please!

Also, go here to read an interview I conducted a few years ago with comics icon Stan Lee, on the subject of Western comics:

http://tnwordsmith.blogspot.com/2011/03/1996-interview-with-stan-lee-about.html

First, our panel of respondents:

Peter Brandvold

Tony Isabella

Jeff Mariotte

James Reasoner

Troy D. Smith

Duane Spurlock

Timothy Truman

And now, the winners.

1. Jonah Hex

Bounty hunting anti-hero Jonah Woodson Hex has been slinging lead at DC comics since his creation by John Albano and Tony DeZuniga in 1972. While other western characters fell by the wayside in the late 70s, Jonah kept going till 1985 (after which the character was injected into a time-traveling Mad Max-like series that is best forgotten.) He returned in the 90s with three acclaimed miniseries by Joe R. Lansdale and Timothy Truman, and has once more starred in his own ongoing title since 2005, written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and illustrated by several different artists. Fans were excited to learn that, in what seemed like perfect casting, Josh Brolin was to portray the scarred gunslinger in the 2010 film; Brolin was good, but unfortunately the movie wasn’t.

Jonah Hex has a lot more in common with amoral spaghetti western characters like Eastwood’s “Man with No Name” than with the cowboy do-gooders of previous eras. His past is checkered, one half of his face is horribly scarred, his very name suggests that he is cursed, his revenges are often cruel, his Confederate heritage affects him in various ways (depending on the writer), and the hardest outlaws are justifiably terrified to learn they have become his quarry. He has been known to come to the aid of the helpless, but unlike other western heroes he does so reluctantly, against his better judgment. He is also unusual in that his ultimate fate was revealed early in the character’s existence; a 1978 story informed readers that a sixty-something Hex was murdered during a card game in 1904, and that his stuffed body was displayed in a traveling Wild West show.

2. Bat Lash

When Bartholomew “Bat” Aloysius Lash first appeared in DC comics in 1968, the tag-line read “Will he save the West, or ruin it?” In many ways, Bat seems like a character that could only have been created in 1968: A peace-loving gambler with a penchant for flowers (often wearing one in his hat and/or lapel.). Like the television character Maverick, he was never in a hurry to confront trouble, but could handle it when he had to. There were a lot of editorial hands in his creation, but Sergio Aragones and Nick Cardy were the creators most closely associated with the character. The Bat Lash comic only lasted seven issues, but the character did not fade away, frequently showing up in other books. He has appeared often in Jonah Hex comics, both in back-up series and as a guest star –the two very disparate characters have an uneasy (and often comical) friendship. An elderly Lash appeared in the 1998 miniseries by Timothy Truman, Guns of the Dragon, which was set in the 1920s; Lash had his own miniseries in 2006, Guns and Roses, by co-creator Sergio Aragones (of MAD Magazine fame), Western novelist Peter Brandvold, and legendary western comics artist John Severin.

3. Rawhide Kid

The Rawhide Kid first appeared at Marvel Comics (then known as Atlas) in 1955, lasting until 1957. The first issue was drawn by Bob Brown, and (probably –no one remembers) written by Stan Lee. That early incarnation of the kid was a stern blond man in buckskins. The title was re-worked in 1960 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with much greater success. This Rawhide Kid was a diminutive, red-haired 18-year-old named Johnny Bart. Johnny was orphaned in a Cheyenne raid and raised by a Texas Ranger named Ben Bart, whose murder led the teen on a quest for justice and a career as a gunfighter. A misunderstanding caused the Kid to be a wanted fugitive, wandering the West and righting wrongs while trying to avoid the law. The title lasted until 1979. For most of those years, it was written and drawn by Stan Lee’s brother Larry Lieber.

The Rawhide Kid, along with most of Marvel’s western heroes, encountered the time-traveling superhero group The Avengers a couple of times in the 1970s (or the 1870s. Whatever.) He had his own miniseries in 1985, set around 1900; in the early 2000s he appeared in two miniseries by John Ostrander and Leonardo Manco, Blaze of Glory and Apache Skies. The Ostrander / Manco Kid had long hair and dressed in a much more realistic style. In 2003 the Rawhide Kid made national headlines with the release of the miniseries Slap Leather, written by Ron Zimmerman and drawn by John Severin. Zimmerman’s Kid was flamboyantly gay, and the story was a combination of slapstick and broad innuendo. It was interesting to watch Stan Lee on CNN, promoting a gay-themed western written by a Howard Stern regular. (In my opinion, a story about a gay Rawhide Kid –that was not written like a Howard Stern bit –could have actually worked.) More recently, Zimmerman teamed with artist Howard Chaykin in a 2010 miniseries called Rawhide Kid: The Sensational Seven, which saw the Kid leading a group of comic book cowboys and real-life western figures on a mission to rescue the Earp brothers.

4. Kid Colt

Blaine Colt, alias Kid Colt, Outlaw, was a Marvel western mainstay from 1948 until the late 70s. His origin story was very similar to the one later written for the Rawhide Kid (and, in fact, for several Marvel western heroes); after gunning down his father’s killer in a fair fight, Colt is falsely accused of murder and goes on the run rather than face a corrupt legal system. He travels the West fighting injustice and trying to clear his name. That theme –an outsider protecting people who distrust him, while pursued by the authorities –would be replicated by Stan Lee and Marvel Comics in their 1960s superhero comics, with Spider-man, the Hulk, and the X-men also being misunderstood outsiders on the right side of justice but the wrong side of the law..

Kid Colt was one of the Big Three Marvel Westerns in the 60s and 70s, along with Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid. The title was canceled in April, 1979, one month before the Rawhide Kid. Kid Colt did not appear again –except as part of a large group of western heroes in a time-traveling Avengers story in the 1980s –until the 2000 John Ostrander / Leonardo Manco miniseries Blaze of Glory. That story featured most of Marvel’s most well-known western heroes in a last stand against an army of bad guys, and Kid Colt is one of several characters to perish. Nonetheless, he appeared as part of the Rawhide Kid’s posse in 2010’s Sensational Seven.

5. Two-Gun Kid

The Two-Gun Kid was the first Marvel hero to headline a title, beginning in March, 1948, drawn by Syd Shores. He was also the first Marvel gunslinger to have the origin story that became an imprint for most of the company’s western heroes: blond, black-clad Clay Harder was framed for murder, and spent his days on the run, lending a hand to downtrodden folks along the way. The character was around for years, but by 1962 –much like the Rawhide Kid –Marvel decided he needed to be re-booted.

The new Two-Gun Kid, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, was radically different than his predecessor. Matthew J. Hawk (it was later revealed his real last name was Leibowicz) was an idealistic young Boston lawyer who was inspired by the fictional dime novel exploits of Clay Harder, the Two-Gun Kid, and decided to adopt the identity himself. He went west, dividing his time between the courtroom and fighting injustice as (the now masked) vigilante.

Like the other major Marvel western heroes, the Kid met the Avengers in their 1970s Wild West adventure; unlike the rest, though, he returned with his new friends to the “present,” an experience that would become an important part of his character’s backstory. After several adventures with the superhero group, Hawk returned to his own time –with a cache of 20^th century weapons, as shown in the miniseries Sunset Riders.

In the 2000 Ostrander / Marcos miniseries Blaze of Glory, Hawk had retired and was living under the pseudonym Clay Harder. The Rawhide Kid talks him into joining his mission, in which Matt Hawk perishes along with Kid Colt and the Outlaw Kid. In yet another convoluted time-traveling plotline, a pre-Blaze of Glory Two-Gun is once more transported to the 20^th century and the company of the Avengers (having a short career as a modern-day bounty hunter), returning to the 19^th century after he had technically “died” and dying again in a 1930s nursing home. Most recently he joined another of the Rawhide Kid’s “posses” in 2010’s Sensational Seven.

6. Desperadoes

Desperadoes is a Weird Western title that has been released periodically since 1997 as a succession of miniseries and one-shots (five to date.) Each story has been written by Jeff Mariotte, and the title has been illustrated by various artists, including John Cassaday and John Severin. Originally published by Homage Comics, it has since moved to IDW Publishing.

The “desperadoes” in question are former Texas Ranger Gideon Brood, ex-slave and buffalo soldier Jerome Alexander Betts, Pinkerton detective Race Kennedy, schoolmarm-turned-prostitute Abby DeGrazia, and (beginning in the third installment) roguish gunfighter Clay Parkhurst. Their adventures take place in a realistic Western setting which has a way of turning rather strange: they have encountered zombies, ghosts, and a vicious serial killer with magic powers. The resultant combination of Western adventure and atmospheric horror has garnered wide praise.

7. Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger was created for radio in 1933, by writer Fran Striker and radio producer George W. Trendle. Soon there were novelizations, movies, and eventually the successful television series starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. The masked man’s comic book career began in January, 1948, in Dell Comics. Gold Key took over as publisher in the early 60s, and the title lasted until 1977. The Ranger had a brief four-color comeback in the mid-90s with a Topps Comics miniseries by Joe R. Lansdale and Timothy Truman, followed by an ongoing series from Dynamite Entertainment by Brett Matthews and Sergio Cariello that started in 2006 and continues today.

As all western fans know, John Reid was the sole survivor of a Texas Ranger company that was massacred by Butch Cavendish and his gang. Rescued by an Indian named Tonto, he dons a mask, molds bullets from silver in a secret mine, and rides a white stallion named Silver in his pursuit of justice in the Old West. An in-depth review of the Dynamite title appeared in a previous Western Fictioneers blog.

8. Boys’ Ranch

Boys’ Ranch was a “kid’s gang” comic by writer Joe Simon and artist Joe Kirby which appeared in 1950 from Harvey comics. It only had a six issue run, but is considered one of Simon and Kirby’s most significant ventures –which is really saying something. Simon and Kirby co-created Captain America in the 1940s, and Kirby would go on to co-create, with Stan Lee, a large number of the most famous Marvel superheroes in the 60s, as well as the New Gods at DC in the 70s. Boys’ Ranch was unmistakable Kirby: splash pages, dramatic poses, and dynamic action.

The ranch in question is donated by its dying owner to be a sanctuary for homeless boys, under the supervision of former cavalry scout Clay Duncan. The boys are an eclectic mix: Dandy, Wabash (a hill boy), Angel (longhaired and hot-tempered), and several others. Simon and Kirby had produced other kid-gang titles –Newsboy Legion and Boy Commandos, for example –but with Boys’ Ranch they were in top form.

9. Ghost Rider

The Ghost Rider has had several incarnations (spooky, huh?) The Ray Krank/Dick Ayers-created character first appeared in Magazine Enterprises comics, as a guest-star in Tim Holt #6 (May, 1949.) He was the costumed alter ego of Marshal Rex Fury, who struck fear into the hearts of outlaws. He appeared in several ME comics, and had his own (more supernaturally themed) title which ran in the early 50s; he encountered witches, demons, and even the Frankenstein monster. This incarnation was a casualty of the backlash against horror comics, and like many such titles it did not survive the creation of the Comics Code Authority. Magazine Enterprises itself went out of business a few years later (which also freed the copyright to Ghost Rider.)

In February of 1967 Marvel Comics published their own version of the Ghost Rider –with the same appearance and basic approach, but a new backstory and alter ego. The new book was written by Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich, and drawn by Dick Ayers (the original Ghost Rider artist from 1949.) In this incarnation, the Ghost Rider was secretly Carter Slade, who covered himself and his horse Banshee with phosphorescent dust to achieve a glowing, ghostly effect. In the 20^th century, his descendant Hamilton Slade would be possessed by Carter Slade’s spirit and also become the (literally) Ghost Rider.

The western Ghost Rider was canceled, however, and in the early 1970s (due to the Comics Code relaxing where supernatural story elements were concerned) Marvel introduced the Ghost Rider most people are familiar with –Johnny Blaze, the biker with a blazing skull. The Western hero was still making guest appearances at Marvel, though, so Carter Slade’s name was changed to avoid confusion. At first Marvel called him Night Rider –a very unfortunate choice for a man riding around with a white mask on –and later settled on Phantom Rider. In the 2007 Ghost Rider film, the western ghost and the demonic motorcyclist were linked, with the former passing the baton to the latter. Sam Elliot played the spectral cowboy, probably the best thing about the movie.

10. Blueberry

Blueberry is the most famous Western comic to originate outside the U.S. Created in 1963 by the Belgian writer Jean-Michel Charlier and widely acclaimed French artist Jean Giraud (better known by his pen name, Moebius), Blueberry’s adventures have been widely translated. Mike Donavan was the disowned scion of a racist Southern family, who wound up fighting for the Union. He chose his new name randomly, when he saw a blueberry bush –much like the samurai in the 1961 film Yojimbo named himself after a mulberry bush. The comics follow his cavalry career and his adventures as a lawman after that; the character still appears regularly in French graphic novels and series. There are several English translations of the original Moebius editions, and if you are a francophony like me you can still follow the new adventures. There was a Blueberry film released in 2004 –it was retitled Renegade for American release, though. The best thing about the film version is seeing the 87-year-old Ernest Borgnine as Mike’s crusty sidekick. Generally speaking, though- just like with Jonah Hex –you’re a lot better off sticking with the comics.

11. (Son of) Tomahawk

12. Cheyenne Kid

13. Firehair

14. Graveslinger

15. Ringo Kid

16. Gunhawks

17. Johnny Thunder

18. El Diablo

19. Bouncer

20. Amargo

21 (tie) Ken Parker

21 (tie) Scalphunter

21 (tie) The Presto Kid

24. Loveless

25 (tie) The Kents

25 (tie) Comanche

27 White Indian

28 Nighthawk

29 Outlaw Kid

30 Pow-wow Smith

31 Black Rider

32 (tie) Trigger Twins

32 (tie) Lobo

32 (tie) Jim Cutlass

BOUND FOR THE PROMISE-LAND, 10th Anniversary

2011-04-18T05:00:00.002-05:00

By Troy D, Smith.

I've written several books -I just had a new one come out last month, a mystery called Cross Road Blues. One of my proudest achievements, though, was a book that was released 10 years ago -Bound for the Promise-Land. It won a Spur Award for best original paperback novel from Western Writers of America, and was also a finalist in the "first novel" category (losing out to Stephen Harrigan's great novel Gates of the Alamo.) Doris Meredith, a reviewer for the Amarillo Globe-News and Roundup (official magazine of the WWA) called it a classic, a fact I have been known to point out from time to time (as any author would.)

This particular book meant a lot more to me, though, than awards or compliments. While there is no shortage of action in it, the novel is an examination of many of the things that are most important to me in life: freedom, and justice, and redemption. In many ways it is the polar opposite of another novel I'm proud of, Good Rebel Soil: The Champ Ferguson Story. Bound is about a black Union soldier and his story of redemption, and search for meaning, while the other book is about a white Confederate guerrilla and his story of damnation, and descent into fury. I have always regretted that Bound for the Promise-Land was in print for only a short time, and never really reached an audience.

That has changed now, and I had to take the opportunity to publicize that fact. Bound for the Promise-Land has been re-released, in both paper and ebook format, by Western Trail Blazer (Good Rebel Soil will follow in a few months.) I'd like to invite you to read it if you haven't; it's one of the accomplishments in this life I'm proudest of, and I'd like as many people as possible to check it out.

Buy it at Amazon

www.troyduanesmith.com

Strongheart by Don Bendell

2011-04-12T04:00:00.018-05:00

Don Bendell had been writing mystery/thrillers until his editor mentioned that he might go back to Westerns. It seems the recent success of the remake of “True Grit” has brought sales back again for novels of the American West.

Synopsis

A son of both Lakota and white worlds, Joshua Strongheart has two prized possessions--his father's Bowie knife and his stepfather's Colt .45 Peacemaker, entrusted to him by his dying mother.

In the Colorado Rockies, Strongheart falls prey to the cold-blooded McMahon brothers who steal his pistol and knife. The brothers are unaware that hidden inside Josh’s money belt are crucial War Department documents, signed by the President, ordering a fair trial for Captain Jack, Chief of the Modoc tribe. Josh must recover both his birthrights and the secret papers before violence erupts across the West.

Excerpt from Strongheart

“Joshua stared into the eyes of Long Legs and the tall man got very nervous. He could see this man was trouble, wounded or not.

Westbrook said, “You’re barely able ta stand partner. Drop the hogleg, an I’ll let ya live.”

“Mister, you’ll never touch that woman while there is breath in my body,” Joshua said, “You gonna start the ball or are you gonna talk me to death?”

He saw the ears on Westbrook’s magnificent paint horse shoot forward honing in on something coming down the stage coach road behind him. He figured the gang came back and was slowly moving up behind him.

Joshua made a decision, he fired, fanned the hammer back and fired again, and saw a large stain of crimson in the center of Long Leg’s chest as he fell back dropping his gun. Joshua immediately went to the ground rolling to his right toward the bloody corpse of Chancy, but on his way down he felt a bullet slam into the back of his left shoulder which spun him. He crawled forward quickly to Chancy’s body and drew his gun and spun around, as another bullet slammed into his right thigh. He saw both Stumpy Shaw and Slim Dyer. One held a Winchester and the other a six-shooter.

Instead of firing wildly Joshua knew he had to save the woman no matter how many bullets hit him. He forced himself to stand and fired first at Dyer, the rifleman, and hit him in the right hip, and then a second shot hit Dyer right on the face tearing his lower jaw off. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell back dead.

Stumpy Shaw looked over and was terrorized by the sight of his dead riding partner, and he fired as quickly as he could, one bullet hitting Joshua in the upper left arm. Joshua pointed, aimed, fired, and the bullet hit Shaw in the right cheek, breaking the cheekbone and tearing the man’s ear off. Strongheart limped forward fanning the hammer back to a cocked position, and he squeezed a shot from the hip which hit Shaw’s upper torso center mass.

The outlaw thought to himself. “I’m dead,” and that was his last thought as his back slammed into the rocks.

Now, Joshua turned, and barely able to walk, started towards Long Legs. Annabelle ran forward, tears streaming, “Oh Mr. Strongheart. You have been shot over and over.”

He grinned, “They are just little holes in me. Don’t worry.”

Then he fell forward into her arms in a faint. His weight took both of them to the ground. She tried to lower him as gently as she could while falling with him on top of her. He opened his eyes, and was an inch from her face. They stared briefly into each other’s eyes, and he smiled.

“Annabelle,” he teased, “We just met.”

He stood, and she grinning, jumped up, helping him raise up on wobbly legs. She immediately started tearing shreds from her petticoat and started bandaging his wounds. Joshua smiling pushed her aside.”

Author Bio

Don Bendell is the top-selling author of 25 books, a television pilot, and a feature film, with over 2 and a half million copies of his books in print worldwide. He is also a producer, director, actor, stuntman, cowboy, poet, and speaker. Skilled in tracking, the former US Army Special Forces (Green Beret) officer, big game guide, and bow hunter, is often called upon, and has had success in, searching for missing hikers, hunters, prized animals, and fugitives.

Don is a 1995 inductee into the International Karate Hall of Fame and 1996 inductee into the Martial Arts Museum of America. He owns and operates two karate schools in southern Colorado. He has served on the National Advisory Board of the American Indian Registry for the Performing Arts along with such notables as Burt Reynolds, Wayne Newton, Will Sampson, and Jonathan Winters. In 2007, Don was honored in a speech by US Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Nicholson along with NFL Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway. He has worked extensively with Vietnamese Montagnard refugees and on Montagnard issues and has also been listed in Marquis' WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA and WHO'S WHO IN ENTERTAINMENT since 1992. Don is Past President of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Special Forces Ass'n where he is a Life member, is a member of the Special Operations Ass'n, Life member of VFW, American Legion, Life member of DAV, and is a Disabled Vietnam veteran. A former member of the International Platform Ass'n, and is a member of the Western Writers of America, where he was nominated for Spur Awards for 4 of his 10 Western novels. He is also a member of the Military Writers Society of America.

Don was appointed to the Colorado Governor's Council on Physical Fitness by former Governor Bill Owens and reappointed to the Council by current Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. Don has also testified for the Colorado Legislature on a bill about Search and Rescue and another bill Don had first suggested to Representative Tom Massey about economic and other incentives to attract film and TV producers to Colorado. Both bills were passed and made into state law.

A graduate of Colorado Christian University with a degree in Business, Don is currently in graduate school at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix pursuing a Master of Science in Leadership. Don is the father of 6 grown children and grandfather of 8. Don rides a big pinto National Showhorse named Eagle, and he and wife Shirley own the Strongheart Ranch south of Florence, Colorado. Don is currently writing westerns after publishing several military thrillers through Berkley Books (Penguin Group-USA) and is represented by the John Talbot Agency, Inc.

Author website:

Amazon buy link:

Western Fictioneers 2010 Peacemaker Awards Nominations

2011-03-31T15:22:00.000-05:00

Western Fictioneers (WF) is pleased to announce the nominations for the first annual Peacemaker Awards.

Nominees for the 2010 Best Western Short Story Award are listed in alphabetical order:

“Left Behind” by Carol Crigger from the anthology Roundup! Great Stories of the West (La Frontera Publishing

“This Old Star” by Wayne Dundee from the anthology Bad Cop…No Donut (Padwolf Publishing)

“Two-Bit Kill” by C. Courtney Joyner from the anthology Law of the Gun (Kensington) .

“Scourge of the Spoils” by Matthew P. Mayo from the anthology Steampunk’d (Daw Books, Inc)

"Catch a Killer by the Toe" by Pete Peterson published by Untreed Reads

Nominees for the 2010 Best Western Novel Award are listed in alphabetical order:

Manhunt (Berkley) by Lyle Brandt (Berkley)

Avenging Angels by Lyle Brandt (Berkley)

Settler’s Chase by D. H. Eraldi (Berkley)

Long Ride to Limbo by Kit Prate (Western Trail Blazers)

Wulf's Tracks by Dusty Richards (Berkley)

Congregation of Jackals by S. Craig Zahler (Dorchester)

++++

There will be no Best First Western Novel Award awarded this year as there were not enough entries to complete the field of judging.

The Peacemaker Awards will be announced June 23rd, 2011 in Bismarck, North Dakota. A place and time will be announced at a later date.

Western Fictioneers (WF) was formed in 2010 by Robert J. Randisi, James Reasoner, Frank Roderus, and other professional Western writers, to preserve, honor, and promote traditional Western writing in the 21st century. Entries were accepted in both print and electronic forms. The Peacemaker Awards will be given out annually. Submissions for the 2011 awards will be open in July, 2011. Submission guidelines will be posted on the WF web site. For more information about Western Fictioneers (WF) please visit:

http://www.westernfictioneers.com/

http://westernfictioneers.blogspot.com/

Contact: Larry D. Sweazy, WF Awards Chair, larrysweazy@prodigy.net, 317-773-9809

“NO COWBOYS OR TEXANS OF ANY SORT ALLOWED INSIDE TOWN LIMITS UNDER PENALTY OF LAW!”

2011-02-25T07:47:00.000-06:00

Thus reads the sign posted on the outskirts of Redemption, Kansas. And they mean it.

Unfortunately, young cowboy Bill Harvey has sustained a serious leg injury in a stampede caused by rustlers, and his partners have little choice but to leave him in Redemption to convalesce. Bill wants to finish out his first cattle drive, but is forced to remain in the town he describes as a backwater settlement for at least a week until he is able to walk. He finds himself under the care of a grizzled storekeeper and his beautiful daughter, Eden… and it doesn’t take him long to realize that the local peace officers are not quite what they seem. There is a dark cloud over Redemption, Kansas –the citizens live in fear. The more questions Bill asks, the more dangerous life becomes for him… and for the family that has taken him in.

This is a suspenseful story, with well-drawn characters, that I found hard to put down. There is more action than you would expect in a tale with a stove-up hero, a strong young man who is not used to feeling helpless, and the tension builds as Bill figures out what is really going on but can’t quite figure out what he’s going to be able to do about it. Bill’s frustration at his physical limitations, his youthful innocence, his fears for his new friends, and the well-developed romance with Eden make him a very sympathetic character. The villains, especially the scar-faced deputy Zach Norris, are formidable.

This is the first new western to come out from James Reasoner under his own name for a while. He writes well no matter what name is on the cover, but I’m glad to see him getting full credit for this one. The name “James Reasoner” popped out at me in the ‘90s when I read several short story anthologies in a row that had tightly-written, powerful tales of his –“Wish Book” stands out particularly in my memory –and those, plus the classic Under Outlaw Flags, quickly made him one of my favorite writers. Reading his new book makes me remember why. If you want to read a good traditional western, I give this one a strong recommendation.

Review by Troy D. Smith, the award-winning author of RIDING TO SUNDOWN, BROTHERS IN ARMS, THE PEOPLE IN YONDER, and GOOD REBEL SOIL: THE CHAMP FERGUSON STORY, among others. Troy is currently a Doctoral candidate in the History Department at the University of Illinois. He says, "I don't write about things that happen to people—I write about people that things happen to.")

Books by Troy D. Smith

2011-02-09T17:47:00.000-06:00

The Snake Den - Chuck Tyrell (Charles T. Whipple)

2011-02-02T11:04:00.001-06:00

THE SNAKE DEN, by Charles T. Whipple writing under his Chuck Tyrell pseudonym, is the first book in Solstice Publishing’s new Western line. It’s a fine debut for the line.

The protagonist of THE SNAKE DEN is fourteen-year-old Shawn Brodie, who is sent to Arizona’s infamous Yuma Prison for stealing beef, even though he’s actually innocent of the crime. Once he’s locked up, Shawn faces all sorts of trouble, mostly from the brutal and perverted head of the guards but also from the sinister, crippled inmate who runs the prison’s criminal underground, a Mexican outlaw determined to escape, and assorted other inmates who become Shawn’s enemies for one reason or another. After one ruckus, Shawn gets tossed in the Snake Den, the solitary confinement cell built into a cave where rattlesnakes can crawl in with the prisoners.

However, not everybody is out to make life miserable for Shawn. His cellmates turn out to be decent sorts: a gambler who teaches Shawn how to play cards, a gunfighter who gives him the fundamentals of handling a revolver, and a man everybody takes for Chinese but who really isn’t, who teaches Shawn the martial arts. Shawn also has allies in the warden’s wife, the prison doctor, and a girl from Yuma who visits the prison when it’s open to the public on Sunday so the prisoners can put on boxing exhibitions and sell things they’ve made.

The prison yarn is a staple of genre fiction, and Whipple has written a very good one in THE SNAKE DEN. Having researched and written a book partially set in Yuma Prison myself, I know he’s done an excellent job of portraying that notorious hellhole. Shawn is a very likable protagonist, and the other characters are fleshed out and well-developed. Given its setting and subject matter, it’s not surprising that THE SNAKE DEN is considerably grittier than the fine Black Horse Westerns Whipple has also written under the Chuck Tyrell name. If this is an example of what we can expect from the Solstice Western line, I’m certainly looking forward to the rest of the books.

-- James Reasoner

(James Reasoner is the author of TEXAS WIND, DUST DEVILS, and REDEMPTION, KANSAS.)

NOT YOUR FATHER’S LONE RANGER

2011-01-24T04:00:00.005-06:00

Troy D. Smith

Not your father’s Lone Ranger –and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In 2006 Dynamite Entertainment debuted its Lone Ranger comic, by Brett Matthews and Sergio Cariello. It was an immediate hit, with critics as well as fans. The title was nominated for an Eisner award for best new series, and was named “Best Western Comic Book of the Year” by True West in 2009. Matthews and Cariello have consistently managed to capture the spirit of the characters and give nods to their storied history while still providing depth and appealing to modern readers. As of this writing, in January 2011, the series has seen 24 issues and four story arcs. I would prefer to see the book coming out on a more regular basis, but waiting a couple of months for Cariello’s excellent artwork is more than worth it. The first three story arcs are available in trade paperback, and the fourth one will be soon; an upcoming miniseries will see the Lone Ranger interacting with an elderly Zorro (Dynamite also publishes Western comic series about Zorro and the Man with No Name.)

Of course, the Dynamite series is only the latest incarnation of the masked man. The character was originally created in 1933 by Detroit radio producer George W. Trendle and freelance writer Fran Striker (the two men argued publicly for years about which had the largest role.) Eventually the Lone Ranger galloped from radio to serials, movies, cartoons, and a long-running television series. He appeared in a newspaper comic strip (initially scripted by co-creator Striker, who also wrote several Lone Ranger novels) from 1938 until 1971, and again in the early ‘80s. The masked man first appeared in comic books in January, 1948; except for a brief hiatus in the early 1960s when the rights changed from Dell to Gold Key Comics, the title continued until March, 1977 (an interesting side note, at least to me: that other famous masked cowboy, Marvel Comics’ Two-Gun Kid, headlined his own comic from March, 1948 until April, 1977.) The Ranger had a brief four-color comeback in the mid-90s with a Topps Comics miniseries by Joe R. Lansdale and Timothy Truman.

The first story of Dynamite’s series closely follows the origin story from the original radio program: young Texas Ranger John Reid is the lone survivor of an ambush by the Butch Cavendish gang which kills five other Rangers, including Reid’s father and older brother Dan. The troop had been betrayed by a traitorous Ranger named Collins. The seriously wounded Ranger is rescued and nursed back to health by an Indian named Tonto, who becomes his partner. Reid buries his five dead comrades, and adds an empty grave –John Reid is dead to the world, and only the Lone Ranger survives. Before long there is a white stallion and a silver mine which produces material for the masked man’s bullets. I like the way Matthews and Carielo include more subtle Easter eggs to pay tribute to the character’s history. In the early issues he wears the red shirt which the Lone Ranger sported in the 1940s, and later switches to a more Clayton Moore-esque blue one. In one scene, the sheet music to The William Tell Overture sits prominently on a piano in the foreground. John Reid’s young nephew, Dan Jr., is obsessed by hornets –Fran Striker fans will immediately realize that little Dan will later be the father of Britt Reid, the 1930s Green Hornet.

There are a few changes, however, and a few modern touches. John Reid seems more sensitive, and less sure of himself, than the stalwart hero we are accustomed to. Like the hero of yore, he refuses to take a life –he uses silver bullets to emphasize the heavy price paid for every shot fired. I don’t remember that reasoning being part of Lone Ranger lore before, although perhaps it was there and I just missed it. The widow and son of his brother Dan are important supporting characters, and the Ranger’s tender feelings for them is a dramatic element in the series. The aging, melancholy Sheriff Loring is another prominent member of the supporting cast, providing a similar dynamic to Commissioner Gordon in Batman stories. Butch Cavendish is a far more interesting villain than he has ever been before –no longer a simple outlaw boss, he is portrayed as an unhinged, psychotic politician, given to grandiose soliloquys and sardonic conversations with God. He is sort of a cross between Al Swearingen of Deadwood and the Joker.

The biggest change –and really, how could it not be –is the depiction of Tonto. He is no longer the monosyllabic, pidgin-English speaking, loyal “Injun” sidekick. Nor does he get beaten up every time he goes to town alone, as Bill Cosby famously observed. This Tonto speaks fluent English, is a formidable and supremely competent hero, and is an equal partner –in many ways a mentor –to the Lone Ranger. He is also more likely than his partner to get the girl. Critics of the character have for decades pointed out that the very name “Tonto” is condescending, as it is a Spanish word meaning “fool.” Matthews’ script makes it clear that Tonto is not the man’s given name: “You can call me Tonto. People used to.” We later learn that he is an outcast from his tribe (hence the name Tonto, perhaps, as Apaches often spoke Spanish –though that has not yet been clarified in the comic.) At one point his old friends deride him for being a “faithful Indian companion.” It is only fair to point out that Lansdale and Truman’s 1994 version of Tonto was also articulate, capable, and aware of the public’s racist view of him: "Of course, Kemosabe. Maybe when we talked I should use that 'me Tonto' stuff, way they write about me in the dime novels. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

I hear that some fans of the traditional Lone Ranger have complained about the violence in the latest comics version. To be certain, this is not the kids’ TV show or the 1970s cartoon; comics today are primarily aimed at people college-age and older (the younger kids are busy playing with their wiis.) The action and language are more realistic –one storyline involves catching a serial killer. Even so, this incarnation of the Lone Ranger is just as much a model of virtue, morality, and honor as any that have come before. If you have pleasant memories of the character, or if you just enjoy a good Western action tale, I strongly recommend you pick up an issue or one of the trade paperback reprints.

(Troy D. Smith is the award-winning author of RIDING TO SUNDOWN, BROTHERS IN ARMS, THE PEOPLE IN YONDER, and GOOD REBEL SOIL: THE CHAMP FERGUSON STORY, among others. Troy is currently a Doctoral candidate in the History Department at the University of Illinois. He says, "I don't write about things that happen to people—I write about people that things happen to.")

Trailer: The Snake Den by Chuck Tyrell

2011-01-17T04:00:00.006-06:00

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Deadline Approaching

2011-01-13T08:51:00.002-06:00

Submissions for the Western Fictioneer Peacemaker Awards are being still being accepted for works published in the year 2010. All entries must be postmarked by January 31, 2011. For more information about the awards and the forms needed, check out the WF website.

Rancho Diablo Series by Colby Jackson

2011-01-10T04:00:00.004-06:00

The Rancho Diablo series of original Western e-books was launched recently to great success so far. Written under the house name Colby Jackson, Rancho Diablo is the creation of veteran authors Mel Odom, James Reasoner, and Bill Crider, and tells the story of the creation of a Texas ranch by former army scout Sam Blaylock, his family, and his friends.

The first book, SHOOTER’S CROSS, written by Odom, finds Blaylock taking over an old, abandoned ranch that is thought to be cursed and having to battle not only new-found enemies who don’t want him to succeed but also the earth itself, since much of the water on the spread he dubs Rancho Diablo is polluted by sulfur. After triumphing over these threats, the arrival of Blaylock’s family sets the stage for the second book, HANGROPE LAW (written by Reasoner), in which an unexpected reunion with an old friend leads to danger for Sam and one of his sons.

These two books are now available for the Kindle through Amazon. The third book, DEAD MAN’S REVENGE, written by Bill Crider, will be available soon. These are action-packed stories that will appeal to fans of traditional Westerns and new readers alike. Check them out.

RAFE: A Tale of Redemption by Frank Roderus

2010-11-18T06:00:00.012-06:00

Published by ThreeSixteen Press, RAFE is now available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.

Rafer Allard was a bank robber. A very good bank robber. It was a career choice that greatly pleased him and his every intention was to keep it up for as long as he could run to a horse and spur it away. That was until a late afternoon in Tumer, Kansas, when two bullets in the back and a man named Peter Stone irrevocably changed his life forever.

Link for Amazon - Rafe: A tale of redemption

Hellfire In Paradise by Chuck Tyrell

2010-11-11T07:58:00.002-06:00

HELLFIRE IN PARADISE is the latest Black Horse Western from WF member Charles Whipple, writing under the Chuck Tyrell pseudonym. It opens by piling tragedy upon tragedy on the head of its heroine, Laurel Baker. The ranch house she shares with her husband and two young sons in Arizona’s Paradise Valley burns down, killing the two boys, and that same night Laurel’s husband Jack dies when the wagon he’s driving is forced into Paradise Gulch. These losses are almost too much for Laurel to bear, but when it quickly becomes obvious that these tragedies aren’t accidents or coincidences, Laurel’s strong-willed nature asserts itself and she digs in her heels and picks up a Winchester, refusing to budged from the Rafter P ranch.

She winds up getting some help along the way, but Laurel is plenty tough in her own right, as Whipple makes clear in this fast-moving, well-written novel. Most of the Black Horse Westerns are solid traditional Western stories with good characters, and HELLFIRE IN PARADISE is a prime example of that.

O Fictioneers!

2010-10-29T06:45:00.003-05:00

Troy D. Smith

http://www.troyduanesmith.com/

Western Fictioneers is a professional organization for authors who produce fiction about the West (bet you didn’t see that coming.) It is not affiliated with Western Writers of America, Inc., but neither are the two mutually exclusive. Many of us are members of both groups, in fact. Why, then, the need for two different writers’ organizations, both centering on the American West? The answer to that question lies in our focus, I believe. WWA covers a lot of different kinds of writing: popular history (the kind you find in such excellent magazines as True West and Wild West), academic history (the denser, analytical stuff one finds in equally excellent journals such as Western Historical Quarterly), songwriting, poetry, children’s books, screenplays, teleplays- including documentaries, biographies, and, of course, fiction. Even under the umbrella of Western fiction, though, there is a lot of variety. WWA got its start, in 1953, mainly promoting the types of traditional Western stories one could see regularly at the time on the silver screen. Eventually, though, WWA authors were just as likely to be producing other Western or frontier-themed fiction: stories set in 1770s North Carolina, or 1740s New York State; stories about wildcatters in the oil fields of 1920s Oklahoma; cowboys in the 1940s; modern-day Cherokee law officers solving mysteries; truck stop waitresses looking for love in 1970s Montana. All these forms, in my opinion, are equally valid and equally entertaining. In recent years, though, those of us who also write the good old-fashioned traditional Western stories that were once the backbone of our genre have begun to fear that our kind of tale –still loved not only by us but by our readers –was in danger of being squeezed so far to the margin that it might fall right off the edge. So we formed this group, in order to promote not just our work but the traditional Western in general, in a more focused way than broader groups such as WWA are able to do.

I decided to write this essay extolling the traditional Western because I, like many of us represented here, wear many different literary hats. I have written a lot of articles for popular history magazines and books, and earn the lion’s share of my bread and butter as a professional historian, writing for academic audiences. I also write poetry, and other types of fiction (mysteries, for example.)

But there’s something special about Western stories. They are one of our primary forms of national myth, for one thing; like England’s Robin Hood and King Arthur stories, Japanese samurai tales, or Scandinavian countries’ Viking sagas. They also provide an ideal setting for generating drama, the backbone of good storytelling. For a truly stirring paean to the Western, see Jory Sherman’s entry that has appeared on this very blog site- I couldn’t possibly improve on it or add to it.

What I would like to do in this space, however, is talk about how Western fiction differs from Western history. I don’t favor one over the other, but I take a radically different approach with each. When dealing with historical fiction, it is very important to know and understand the history in which you choose to weave your story. Nothing drives me crazy as quickly as careless anachronism- a story about Civil War guerrillas that has them using cartridge-loaded Peacemakers, or about Republican Texas with Rangers using lever action repeating rifles. I am also annoyed by the use of words or phrases not in the vocabulary of the time, or stories that reference historical figures or events in an incorrect timeframe. Several of my WF friends can testify that my compulsive historian’s need to make sense of the Gunsmoke timeline strains not only my own sanity but also that of any poor souls forced to endure my tirades about it. Despite all that, I have made my share of historical errors in my novels, and I’m sure all my WF colleagues have done so as well –and I’m sure they all have stories about readers who immediately jumped on those errors, leaving us sheepish (a feeling no self-respecting cowboy should experience.)

Obviously, the need to get one’s facts straight is even more important when writing actual history. This, however, is where the difference between the two, and my diverging approaches to them, comes in. You see, in historical fiction the facts are important, but they are not the most important. First and foremost, you must have a good story. So, then, whereas an author does not want to make the kind of careless historical errors I described above, he or she may consciously decide to –well, make stuff up. Say you were writing a novel about Johnny Ringo. You might choose to consolidate 4 or 5 of Johnny’s real-life friends into one character, just to make the story easier to follow. You might combine several similar shootouts into one scene. Perhaps there is a legend about him that historians have demonstrated is probably untrue –but it’s a fun legend, and you want to use it anyhow. You are not married to the facts. I’ll give you a couple of cinematic examples. The movies Tombstone and Wyatt Earp came out around the same time, and covered the same subject. Wyatt Earp was more historically accurate, and more detailed. Tombstone, however, was a better movie –because it told a better story.

It is also an author’s prerogative to intentionally change some historical facts in order to make their story more effective. Larry McMurtry tends to do this. If you are familiar with Texas history, and read McMurtry, he will mess with your mind. If you read Dead Man’s Walk and think “a-ha! Bigfoot Wallace! I know about him, and I know what becomes of him,” or do the same when you encounter Judge Roy Bean in Streets of Laredo, you will be lulled into a false sense of security. Then, when those characters meet fates you did not expect, the scenes will be shocking and powerful –and that was the author’s intention.

I have done a lot of research about the Civil War guerrilla Champ Ferguson. This resulted in a novel and a history article in Civil War Times Illustrated. In the article, Troy Smith the historian was obliged to tell exactly what really happened, as best it can be reconstructed (a word at odds with old Champ.) But in the book, Troy Smith the novelist had two goals: 1) tell a good story, and 2) do my best to show what it was like, and how it felt, to be in war-torn Civil War Tennessee. I could do both these things better by tweaking the facts. Very often, fiction allows a writer to tell a story that is ultimately more true than nonfiction could be. The facts are tools to be used by the artist, whose goal is to strike a chord in the reader’s heart that rings true whether they have experienced the particular circumstances being described or not.

I would like to close with a quote from Oakley Hall’s introduction to his classic 1958 Western novel Warlock. Hall’s words resonate with me, even though I would clarify one point: I think that history, too, is a search for truth beyond mere facts, as the professional historian’s job is to explain facts, not just list them. Here, then, is how Hall described his novel, and how I would describe any of mine:

“The fabric of the story … is made up of actual events interwoven with invented ones; by combining what did happen with what might have happened, I have tried to show what should have happened. Devotees of Western legend may consequently complain that I have used familiar elements to construct a fanciful design, and that I have rearranged or ignored the accepted facts. So I will reiterate that this work is a novel. The pursuit of truth, not of facts, is the business of fiction.”

Or, to quote from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, when the facts become legend, print the legend.

(Unless you’re a historian.)

Steampunk, Anyone?

2010-10-15T11:49:00.002-05:00

Matthew Mayo

My Western steampunk short story, "Scourge of the Spoils," is due for release on November 2, 2010, in the DAW Books anthology, Steampunk'd, edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg (softcover, DAW Books, 320 pages). Fellow WF member Robert Vardeman also has a story in this anthology. The stories in this all-original collection explore alternate timelines and have been set all over the world, running the gamut from Western to science fiction to mystery to horror to a melding of these genres.

My selection is in most ways a traditional Western tale, save for a few steampunky elements. Wait ... what's steampunk, you ask? It's "what the past would look like if the future had come along earlier." Think "Wild, Wild West," and you're close. According to Wikipedia, "steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction involving an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian-era Britain. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them. This technology may include such fictional machines as those found in the works of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne...."

The American West of the 19th century is an ideal setting for steampunk tales, and it's a great way for the Western genre to stretch and grow in new and unexpected directions. Hopefully we'll see many more Western steampunk stories in the near future. In the meantime, though, there's no better place to begin than with your very own copy of Steampunk'd. It's available for pre-order today! Here's a link: http://matthewmayo.com/books/anthologies.

The Rattlesnake Season a 2010 Best Books of Indiana Finalist

2010-10-08T16:47:00.000-05:00

Larry Sweazy’s THE RATTLESNAKE SEASON is a finalist for The 2010 Best Books of Indiana. Here's the link.

Comments for finalists' entries from the fiction judging panel:

Sweazy immerses readers in the adventures of Josiah Wolfe, a former Texas Ranger who is lured back to his previous lifestyle after the deaths of his wife and daughters. This carefully crafted and perfectly paced novel hooks readers with Wolfe's dramatic personal conflict: an old friend and comrade is now an outlaw whom Wolfe must bring to justice. Excellent historical details and rich characterization of Wolfe's struggle to fulfill his duty make The Rattlesnake Season an excellent start to a new Western series.

Winner to be announced on Friday, October 15, 2010

Agave Award

2010-09-16T07:21:00.009-05:00

Charles Whipple won the 2010 Oaxaca International Literature Competition Agave Award for Literature for his story "A Matter of Tea."

Held in conjunction with the Oaxaca International Film and Video Festival because the relationship between cinema and literature has always been closely intertwined, this competition is dedicated to providing a forum for writers from all over the world to display their talents.

Whipple's story was selected as the winner from a thousand entries. He will be flown to Oaxaca, Mexico, to receive the award. The top ten stories in the competition will be published in a special commemorative edition. Western Fictioneers congratulates Charles Whipple on this honor!

NEVER SAY DIE

2010-08-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

Frank Roderus

If you intend to make it as a professional, perhaps the most important quality you can have is simple stick-to-it’iveness. Bloody-minded stubbornness is more like it.

And no matter what, do not – do not ever – allow yourself to be dissuaded from the dream.

Let me tell you a true story about my struggling years. I was a newspaper reporter and as such spent a great deal of time sitting through murder trials. Now there is nothing so boring as a murder trial. The lawyers laboriously, studiously, boringly go into incredible details of arcane law, frantic lest they forget some technicality.

Sitting and listening to this nonsense in real life is most unlike the drama you see on TV. To keep myself busy I wrote, in longhand in steno pads. And I wrote what I thought was a pretty good yarn.

I typed that up into a manuscript in the style specified in Writers’ Markets, then had to find a publisher. Now how do you go about such things when you have no track record and know nothing about the business?

Why, you get an expert to handle it for you. Of course.

So I went through the books again and found a likely agent. Mailed the manuscript off and started chewing my nails waiting for the response.

Boy, did I ever get one. My manuscript came back in due time and along with it a letter. The letter said, not quite in so many words but very bluntly, that I was not a writer, should not bother her or anyone else again and to find something else to occupy my time.

To say that I was crushed is an understatement. I was devastated. I took her advice. Because, after all, this woman was a New York agent and New York agents know everything. Right? Sure they do.

I put that manuscript aside and tried to give up the thought of writing. It was three years before the desire to write overcame me to the point that I had to try again.

I pulled that same manuscript out, read it over and decided it really was not that terrible. Sent it off again, this time to a small, mid-western press.

They bought it, and Duster was a Spur Award finalist that year. I have been writing and consistently selling ever since.

My point here is that the all-knowing New York agent (I have completely forgotten her name, but her initials are Ann B Elmo) very nearly stopped my career before it ever happened. And would have had I not been so determined to try again regardless of that ‘professional opinion’ from on high.

Believe in yourself. That is the key.

BEAT to a PULP: ROUND ONE

2010-08-23T06:00:00.001-05:00

By David Cranmer

I’m involved in putting together a print anthology that will hopefully be of interest to western aficionados and to pulp fiction fans in general. At just under 400 pages, BEAT to a PULP: Round One is a gargantuan collection jam-packed with twenty-seven stories running the gamut of crime fiction, noir, sci-fi, hardboiled, western, literary, ghost and fantasy genres as well as a foreword by Bill Crider and a history of pulp by Cullen Gallagher.

For western enthusiasts is the inclusion of three gunslinger adventures. The first by Scott D. Parker is “You Don’t Get Three Mistakes,” a fast-paced oater in The Wild Wild West style with a twisty ending. The next sees the return of Cash Laramie, who made his first appearance in A Fistful of Legends, in a traditional western called “The Wind Scorpion” by Edward A. Grainger where revenge comes in unexpected forms. In the third story, if you favor the genre turned upside-down and inside-out, Chap O’Keefe sends everyone’s favorite outlaw through space and time in “The Unreal Jesse James.”

Authors well-known for their westerns, and writings in other genres too, have stepped onboard with some brain-teasing, spine-tingling tales for Round One. Ed Gorman weaves a psychological yarn about a broken-down marriage and infidelity called “Killing Kate.” Robert J. Randisi brings back Miles “Kid” Jacoby where the detective gets in deep with a case involving the paparazzi in “Crap is King.” Then James Reasoner takes us to Pearl Harbor where a beautiful nurse carries a deadly scent of “Heliotrope” for a haunting tale.

Plus there is an original short story by pulp legend Paul S. Powers. Mr. Powers had a prolific and successful career in pulp fiction, writing over 400 stories for such magazines as Wild West Weekly, Weird Tales, Thrilling Western and dozens of others spanning four decades. His granddaughter Laurie kindly supplied us with the never-before-published “The Strange Death of Ambrose Bierce.” Mr. Powers’ brilliant homage to the fiery editor and writer Bierce grounds our anthology and bridges pulp-of-the-past to the present.

I had hoped for an August release, however, due to some last minute additions to the cover design, we are looking at middle to late September but the extra time will be well worth the wait. Credit for the sensational cover goes to James O'Barr of The Crow fame and John Bergin.

A complete list of authors and story titles can be found on the BTAP website ( http://www.beattoapulp.com/roundone.htm ) and updates will be posted on my blog, The Education of a Pulp Writer, ( http://davidcranmer.blogspot.com/ ) as details become available. Updates will also be announced on the BEAT to a PULP Facebook page setup by Hilary Davidson and Patricia Abbott. ( http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beat-to-a-Pulp/120622367985562 )

Hope you enjoy!

Will Rogers Medallion Award

2010-08-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

Texas Blood Feud by Dusty Richards won the Will Rogers medallion award for best fiction of the year. The award will be presented in Lubbock at the Symposium in September.

Congratulations Dusty!

The Edge Series is Back!

2010-08-10T06:00:00.002-05:00

The first book of this popular series of exciting westerns featuring the lone character Edge by George Gilman will be re-released by Solstice Publishing in ebook and paperback in August of 2010.

http://pubarticles.com/article-solstice-publishing-brings-back-the-series-western-1281062768.html